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REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 



OF THE 



ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY 

TO THE FORTY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS ON THE 

INVESTIGATION OF THE 
LINCOLN WAY 




Published by the Trustees of the 

Illinois State Historical Library 

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 
19 15 



ILLINOIS 
STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY 



BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

EvARTS BouTELL Greene, President 
Charles Henry Rammelkamp, Vice President 
Otto Leopold Schmidt, Secretary 



Jessie Palmer Weber, Librarian 



ADVISORY COMMISSION 

Evarts Boutell Greene 

James Alton James 

Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin 

William Augustus Meese 

Edward Carleton Page 

Charles Henry Rammelkamp 

Clarence Walworth Alvord, ex officio 



REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 



OF THE 



ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY 



TO THE FORTY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS ON THE 



INVESTIGATION OF THE 
LINCOLN WAY 




Published by the Trustees of the 

Illinois State Historical Library 

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 
19 15 



.36" 



ILLINOIS PRINTING COMPANY 
DANVILLE, ILLINOIS 



0. OF Q, 

JUL 26 1915 



Urbana, Illinois, February 20, 1915 

To the Speaker and Members of the House of Represent- 
atives of the Forty-Ninth Ge^ieral Assembly. 

Gentlemen : 

The Forty-Seventh General Assembly adopted the 
following as House Joint Resolution no. 25 : 

''Whereas, The People of the State of Illinois, ever 
mindful of their deep and lasting obligation to Abraham 
Lincoln, and with abiding love and reverence do strive 
continually to honor his name and memory; and 

"Whereas, It is the sense of the People of Illinois 
that a fitting and permanent memorial to the memory 
of the great emancipator would be the consecration 
and dedication of the route that he traveled from the 
place of his birth in Kentucky, through Indiana, and 
thence to his tomb at Springfield, to be known forever 
as the 'Lincoln Way'; and, 

"Whereas, At its last session the legislature of Ken- 
tucky enacted a law naming the route over which 
Abraham Lincoln traveled from his home at Hodgeville 
[Hodgensville] to Indiana, 'The Lincoln Way,' and, in 
the hope that the state of Indiana will join the states 
of Kentucky and Illinois in establishing and completing 
this fitting memorial; therefore, be it 

'^Resolved, by the House of Representatives, the Senate 
concurring therein, That the Board of Trustees of the 
Illinois State Historical Library be and they are 
hereby requested to make the necessary investigations 
to determine the exact route traveled by Abraham 



Lincoln in his removal from Kentucky to Illinois, and 
to report to the General Assembly at as early a date 
as possible, and make such recommendations as they 
deem advisable to carry out the purposes of this reso- 
lution. 

"Adopted by the House May 2, 1911. 

"Concurred in by the Senate May 9, 1911." 

The Forty-Eighth General Assembly, in section 1, 
paragraph 52 of "An Act to provide for the ordinary 
and contingent expenses of the State Government 
until the expiration of the fiscal quarter after the 
adjournment of the next regular session of the General 
Assembly," appropriated the sum of $1,000 for the 
expenses of this work. In accordance with these pro- 
visions the board of trustees of the Illinois State His- 
torical Library appointed Dr. Charles M. Thompson to 
conduct an investigation to determine, so far as prac- 
ticable, the route traversed by Abraham Lincoln in his 
journey from Indiana to his new home in Illinois in 
1830. Dr. Thompson has completed his investigations 
and embodied his conclusions in the report which is 
transmitted herewith. 

It will be seen that the long period of time which has 
elapsed, and the almost entire absence of first-hand 
documentary evidence make it impossible to indicate 
with certainty the details of the route actually followed. 
The principal stages in the journey may, however, be 
.considered as established beyond a reasonable doubt. 

RespectftiUy submitted, 

EvARTs B. Greene 
President of the Board of Trustees of the 
Illinois State Historical Library 



To the Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library. 

Gentlemen: I herewith submit a report on the 
" Lincoln Way" investigation which was undertaken at 
your request three years ago. The evidence gathered 
in making this investigation has been subjected to as 
thorough a criticism as has been possible. Informa- 
tion about definitely located points on the "Way" 
has necessarily come directly or indirectly from mem- 
bers of the Lincoln party. The greater part of the 
labor connected with the investigation, however, has 
had to do with the testing of the accuracy of this 
information. 

Without a single notable exception the people when- 
ever called on for assistance have co-operated to make 
the investigation a success. To all those who have 
assisted in this work, I desire here to express my grati- 
tude; a few because of their untiring efforts in this 
connection deserve individual mention. James Wade 
Emison of Vincennes, Indiana; Abraham Harrison of 
West Union; William T. HoUenbeck and Harry W. 
Drake of Marshall; John F. Lafferty and James Nichols 
of Martinsville; W. O. Bennett and George S. Boul- 
ware (deceased) of Charleston ; Joseph Warren Thomp- 
son of Chicago; James A. Steele of Sullivan; Jacob T. 
Zimmer of Shelbyville, and Robert W. Ross of Van- 
dalia, have assisted in locating early roads, land en- 
tries, settlements, fords, and ferries. Mrs. Harriet 
Chapman of Charleston, Joseph A. Hall, Abraham 
Lincoln Hall, and Mrs. J. D. Martin of Janesville, and 



D, H. Dowling of Springfield, all of whom belong to 
what may be termed the Lincoln family, have trans- 
mitted to this investigation the information about the 
"Way" which they had received from their elders. 
Jesse W. Weik of Greencastle, Indiana, who colabored 
with Mr. Herndon in one of the best known biographies 
of Mr. Lincoln, has kindly furnished from his manu- 
script collection an account of an interview with the late 
Colonel Augustus H. Chapman of Charleston. E. S. 
Clayton of Martinsville, and Byron R. Lewis of Bridge- 
port, have rendered valuable service in carrying on a 
campaign of publicity and in gathering data. The 
librarians and attendants of the University of Illinois 
library. Harvard University library, Boston public 
library, Indiana state library, Illinois state library, 
Illinois State Historical Library, Chicago public library, 
Chicago Historical Society library, and the Mercantile 
Library (St. Louis) have facilitated the examination of 
printed material on early Illinois. I am under special 
obligations to Professor Clarence W. Alvord, editor of 
the Illinois Historical Collections, for his helpful criti- 
cism while preparing the report. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Charles M. Thompson 



THE INVESTIGATION OF THE 
LINCOLN WAY 



BY 

CHARLES M. THOMPSON 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



THE INVESTIGATION OF THE 
LINCOLN WAY 

The "Lincoln Way" is the route traveled by the 
Lincolns in moving from Indiana to Illinois in 1830; 
and to determine the location of the Illinois section of 
this route has been the purpose of the "Lincoln Way" 
investigation. Recently the expressions ' ' Lincoln High- 
way" and "Lincoln Trail" have been applied to the 
several ocean to ocean automobile highways, with 
the result that the similarity in names and expressions 
has caused confusion and misunderstanding. The 
method pursued has been twofold: (1) to determine 
as many points as possible through which the Lin- 
colns passed in moving to Illinois; (2) to gather data on 
the roads, trails, ferries, fords, rivers, and settlements 
in the neighborhood of these points. 

This journey into Illinois, not unlike thousands of 
others in the early thirties, was necessarily made along 
poorly constructed roads and Indian trails. Although 
the mania for a network of wagon roads across the 
state was already being felt, it was not until three or 
four years later that the actual construction of the roads 
was undertaken. The stages of water in the rivers and 
the condition of the adjacent lowlands must have in- 
fluenced the selection of the route taken in going from 
the Wabash country to Decatur. On the one hand 
there would have been the desire to keep away from the 

1 



2 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

lowlands; on the other the possibility of being able to 
cross the rivers at natural fords situated on or near the 
established roads or trails. It has been assumed, in 
the absence of proof to the contrary, that the Lincolns 
kept as far as possible to used trails and roads, and that 
they went from point to point by the most direct 
route. Some investigation has been made of present- 
day roads, the routes of which approximate that trav- 
eled by the Lincolns, but such investigations have been 
incidental and they are not included in this report. 

Close relatives of Mr. Lincoln differ as to the exact 
number composing the party, which left Gentryville, 
Spencer county, Indiana, about March 1, 1830. It is 
certain, however, that there were at least thirteen: 
Thomas Lincoln, his wife Sarah, his son Abraham and 
stepson John D. Johnston; Squire Hall, his wife Ma- 
tilda, and their son John; Dennis Hanks, his wife 
Elizabeth, and their four children — Harriet (Mrs. Chap- 
man), John, Sarah Jane (Mrs. Dowling), and Nancy. 
There are also differences of opinion as to the methods 
of travel and means of transportation. Some have 
claimed that the party had but one wagon, others two, 
and still others three; all agree, however, that heavy 
wagons were used and that they were drawn by oxen, 
or oxen and horses. 

The route taken by the Lincolns in making that part 
of the journey in which this investigation has been 
concerned, lay in eastern Illinois, in what were then the 
counties of Lawrence, Crawford, Clark, Shelby, and 
Macon. These five counties comprised an area of more 
than five thousand square miles and contained in 1830 
less than fifteen thousand inhabitants. Between the 



THE LINCOLN WAY 3 

Wabash country on the east and Decatur and Shelby- 
ville on the west there was not one important town or 
settlement. Here and there along the trails leading to 
the settlements on the Wabash river were small groups 
of partly improved farms, but town life in that section 
had not begun. Marshall, Martinsville, Casey, Green- 
up, Charleston, Mattoon, Sullivan, and Lovington were 
yet to be built. Viewed from any angle, that part of 
Illinois through which the Lincolns traveled in 1830 
was a typical unsettled frontier. After having traveled 
two wrecks and traversed something like two hundred 
and twenty miles, the party reached their destination 
in the vicinity of Decatur, Illinois, about March 15, 
1830. 

Needless to say, in the determination of this "Lin- 
coln Way," the first problem confronting the investi- 
gation has been to ascertain at what point the Lincolns 
crossed from Indiana and entered Illinois. An exami- 
nation of printed material early in the investigation led 
to the belief that they passed through Vincennes, 
Indiana, and crossed the Wabash river into Illinois at 
or near that city ; and subsequent investigation has con- 
firmed that belief. Evidence to the contrary is scant 
and self-contradictory. 

As to the place and manner of crossing the Wabash 
river, there is a sharp difference of opinion. Mr. James 
Wade Emison and others believe that the Lincolns 
traveled northward from Vincennes on the Indiana 
side of the river, crossing into Illinois at the Russell- 
ville ford. This belief is founded on a conversation 
between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Emison's grandfather, 
the late William W. C. Emison. (See appendix A.) 
In the conversation, which occurred near Mr. Emison's 



4 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

home north of Vincennes, Mr. Lincoln is reported to 
have said that the party was then on its way to the ford 
where Russell ville was later built. Mrs. Harriet Chap- 
man of Charleston, Illinois, who was a member of the 
Lincoln party, has also said that the crossing of the 
Wabash was not made at Vincennes. (See appendix 
B.) No documentary evidence has been submitted to 
prove that the ford mentioned by Mr. Emison was used 
at the time. There is, however, ample evidence in the 
archives of Knox county, Indiana, to prove the exist- 
ence of a well-kept wagon road on the Indiana side of 
the river leading from Vincennes to John McCart^^'s 
ferry on the Wabash, west of Shakertown, Indiana. 
The exact location of this ferry has not been determined, 
but from the general description of its location, one is 
led to believe that it could not have been far from the 
site of Russell ville. Because of the character of the 
evidence and the integrity of the men presenting it, 
the conclusion has been reached that the Lincolns went 
northward from Vincennes on the Indiana side of the 
river intending to cross into Illinois farther up the 
stream. 

Mr. Lincoln once told his kinsman, the late Colonel 
Augustus H. Chapman of Charleston, Illinois, that the 
party crossed the Wabash river into Illinois at Vin- 
cennes and went westward to Lawrence ville, Illinois. 
(See appendix C.) The road between Lawrence ville 
and Vincennes, the great western mail route, was an 
old and w^ell-established one. Several ferries were in 
operation on the Wabash at Vincennes throughout the 
year 1830, and the crossing of the river at that point 
would have been comparatively easy. 



THE LINCOLN WAY 5 

These two versions of the same event, conflicting as 
they appear to be, are not irreconcilable. The elder 
Mr. Emison knew only the intentions of the travelers. 
He has left no record of having definite information 
about the crossing of the river, and there is no evidence to 
show that the party did not return to Vincennes and 
cross the river there. Mrs. Chapman has doubts about 
the matter. Three years ago, she expressed the 
opinion that the party crossed the river at Vincennes. 
Later, on learning of Mr. Emison's statement, she was 
inclined to agree with him, and so expressed herself. 
(See appendix B.) She has stoutly contended, however, 
that the crossing of the Wabash was made by ferrying 
and not, as Mr. James Wade Emison believes, by ford- 
ing. There is no reason, therefore, why both versions 
of the crossing may not be correct. It is conceivable 
that the Lincolns first went northward from Vincennes, 
intending to cross the river above, but that for some 
reason they turned back and crossed at Vincennes. 
Mrs. Chapman's uncertainty about the crossing would 
indicate that there was some derangement of plans. 
In the light of Mr. Lincoln's statement to Colonel 
Chapman, it must be concluded that the Lincolns 
crossed the Wabash river into Illinois at Vincennes. 

After crossing the Wabash at Vincennes, the Lincolns 
went westward along the great western mail route 
to Lawrenceville. (See appendix C, D.) At that 
point they turned northward, going to Palestine in 
Crawford county. (See appendix B, C, D.) In the 
Preliminary report on the "Lincoln Way," the opinion 
was expressed that traveling in the spring of the year 
through the low lands northeast of Lawrenceville 
would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible. 



6 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

That opinion has since been proved to be incorrect; 
but, because it may be held by others, it has seemed 
advisable to say something about the routes from the 
Wabash river opposite Vincennes to Palestine. 

Between these points any one of three routes might 
have been traveled. (See appendix Q.) One route 
was along the river road, which paralleled the Wabash 
to the vicinity of the site of Russell ville. Another led 
for several miles along the great western mail route 
toward Lawrence ville, and thence northward through 
or near the Christian settlement in Allison prairie. 
From that point it led in a northeasterly direction, 
converging with the river road at or near the site of 
Russell ville. These two routes were approximately 
equal in length. The third route was along the great 
western mail route to Lawrenceville and thence in a 
northeasterly direction to where it converged with the 
second road already noticed. In going to Palestine by 
the way of Lawrenceville the Lincolns were compelled 
to cross the Embarras river twice and to travel some 
ten miles farther than they would have traveled on 
either of the other roads. The crossing of the Embarras 
river, however, would have been comparatively easy. 
At the time there were two ferries in operation on that 
river at Lawrenceville: one between Vincennes and 
Lawrenceville on the great western mail route; the 
other on the road leading northeastward from Lawrence- 
ville toward the Christian settlement. The presence 
of ferries at these points indicates not only the exist- 
ence of roads, but also their use for travel. The 
greatest obstacle to the use of the road from Lawrence- 
ville to the Christian settlement in the spring of the 
year would have been the water in what was called 



THE LINCOLN WAY 7 

the Purgatories, a stretch of low land lying on the 
opposite side of the river from Lawrenceville. In this 
connection a study of the conditions of travel has been 
made. An examination of the issues of the Western 
Sun (published at Vincennes) from 1815 to 1845, leads 
to the conclusion that the stage of water in the Wabash 
at Vincennes was lower during the first two weeks of 
March, 1830, than at the corresponding time in any of 
the other years examined. It was too low in fact for 
steamboat navigation — an unusual condition for that 
season of the year. The low stage of the river does 
not prove that the road across the Purgatories was 
dry or even above water ; it merely indicates that there 
is a strong probability that such was the case. 

Two of the Lincoln party have left accounts of their 
movements in this vicinity. Mr. Lincoln and Mrs. 
Dowling state positively that the party passed through 
Lawrenceville (see appendix C, D), and their state- 
ments are supported by a tradition held by the people 
of that city and vicinity. (See appendix E.) Assum- 
ing that the route by the way of Lawrenceville was 
longer and more liable to inundation than either of the 
others, it is not improbable that considerations weight- 
ier than the loss of the better part of a day's journey 
caused the travelers to take the longer route. If the 
story that Mr. Lincoln carried a stipply of merchandise 
to sell to the settlers along the way be accepted as 
true, it might well be concluded that the detour was 
made in order to pass through the Lawrenceville 
settlement. It is also probable that they were forced 
out of a more direct route by demands for supplies 
procurable only at Lawrenceville. The conclusion has 
been reached that the Lincolns went westward from a 



8 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

point on the Illinois shore of the Wabash opposite 
Vincennes to Lawrenceville, that they recrossed the 
Embarras river at Lawrenceville and went in a north- 
easterly direction through or near the Christian set- 
tlement; that they came into the river road at or 
near the site of Russell ville, and that they followed the 
river road to Palestine. 

From Palestine the Lincolns continued northward 
through Hutson ville and York to Darwin. In the 
Preliminary report the opinion was held that the 
travelers went in a northwesterly direction from York 
along an old Indian trail known to have been in use at 
that time. (See Preliminary report on the ''Lincoln 
Way,'' 7, 8, and appendix F.) Mr. Lincoln's own 
statement about the route proves that opinion to have 
been incorrect. (See appendix C.) 

Another point believed to be on the ''Lincoln Way" 
was the Paradise settlement near the headwaters of the 
Little Wabash river in what is now the western part 
of Coles county. (See appendix D, G, K.) The post- 
ofhce that served the settlement was called Paradise. 
(See appendix H.) It was located on the intersection 
of the Paris-Shelbyville road and the Little Wabash 
river, not far from the present city of Mattoon. In 
locating the general route from the Wabash country 
to Paradise two distinct problems have arisen. The 
first has to do with the general direction taken, the 
second with the crossing of the Embarras river in what 
was then Clark county. 

Mrs. Chapman has expressed the opinion that the 
Lincolns traveled northwesterly from the Wabash 
country until the national road was reached ; that they 
followed this road to the site of the village of Greenup, 



THE LINCOLN WAY 9 

in what is now Cumberland county, where they crossed 
the river, and that they went from that point to Para- 
dise. (See appendix B.) Mr. Lincoln told a kinsman, 
Colonel Chapman, that the party passed through Rich- 
woods, which was in the northern part of Clark county, 
and about three miles east of the site of Westfield, Illi- 
nois. (See appendix C.) The descendants of Squire 
Hall, and an old neighbor of Thomas Lincoln, believe 
that the Embarras was crossed at McCann's ford, 
called Logan's ford in 1830. This ford is situated 
about a mile north of the southern boundary of Coles 
county and about the same distance from the Lincoln 
farm in the same county. (See appendix G, I.) 

Mrs. Chapman has stated that she heard her father, 
Dennis Hanks, "speak of crossing the Embarras river 
at Greenup, and that the cause of said Hanks speaking 
of this event repeatedly was, that he afterwards worked 
on a bridge built at that point." The Halls, who have 
lived practically all their lives in the immediate vicinity 
of McCann's ford, state emphatically that they have 
heard their father, the late John J. Hall, speak of cross- 
ing the river at that point. A search has failed to 
prove or disprove the assertion that Mr. Hanks 
assisted in building the bridge at Greenup. It is 
known, however, that a river bridge was built at Mc- 
Cann's ford in the forties ; and it is the opinion of the 
Halls that Mr. Hanks worked on that bridge and not 
on the one at Greenup. (See appendix G, M.) Mr. 
Hanks lived in Charleston at the time he is supposed 
to have done the work mentioned above, and it is not 
improbable that he spoke of working on a bridge 
''down toward Greenup," which has been interpreted 



10 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

by Mrs. Chapman to mean ''at Greenup." Evidence 
presented by the Halls ought to be given great weight 
in this matter. They grew up near McCann's ford, 
and crossed it often with their father, who was inti- 
mately associated with Thomas Lincoln and other 
members of the party. It was but natural for the 
father to have remarked about the crossing on such 
occasions. If the party was at Richwoods, which is 
assumed to be a fact in this investigation, McCann's 
ford would have been a more-likely crossing place than 
any ford at the site of Greenup. 

An examination of facts about these routes may 
assist in reaching a determination. So far as is known 
there was no national road in Illinois in March, 1830. 
It was not until September and October of that year 
that contracts for building the Illinois part of the 
national road were let. Furthermore, but one family 
lived at the time the contracts were let on the entire 
ninety miles of the road's route from Vandalia, Illinois, 
to the Indiana state line west of Terre Haute, Indiana. 
(See appendix L.) Even though the route of the road 
had been marked — and there is no evidence at hand 
to prove that such was the case — it seems improbable 
that the Lincolns should have traveled several days 
through an uninhabited country when by making a 
short detour northward they could have avoided the 
bottoms of the North Fork river and at the same 
time could have passed through several small settle- 
ments in the northwestern part of what is now Clark 
county. Moreover, if they had traveled along the 
route of the national road, their experiences in cross- 
ing Hurricane creek as related by one of the Halls could 



THE LINCOLN WAY 11 

not have occurred, for this creek flows southward and 
empties into the Embarras river north of the national 
road. (See appendix G, O.) 

That a road led from McCann's ford westward to the 
Paradise settlement and eastward toward Darwin, 
there can be no doubt. (See appendix M.) Soon 
after the organization of Coles county in 1831, a peti- 
tion was presented to the county commissioners pray- 
ing them to have viewed "a county road, commencing 
on the Clark County line at the head of long point 
creek on a path now used, thence west to the Embarras 
River at what is called Logan's Ford near where John 
McCann now lives thence through Goosenest prairie, 
near Indian creek, thence the nearest and best road 
to Shelby County line in a direction to Shelby ville." 
(See appendix N.) An examination of land entries 
before 1830 shows a line of settlements among what 
appears to have been the "path" mentioned in the pe- 
tition above. Perhaps the best reason why such a 
road must have existed was the presence of settlers west 
of McCann's ford. Practically all these settlers had 
come from or through the Wabash settlements in 
exactly the same manner as did the Lincolns. More- 
over it was necessary for them to keep in touch with 
Darwin, the county seat. To have used any other 
ford now known to be on the Embarras would have 
caused the settlers in going to Darwin to make a 
detour of at least a day's journey. 

Two other points in Clark county appear to be on 
the "Way." Mr. Lincoln told Colonel Chapman that 
the party passed through Richwoods. Mr. Robert 
Francis of Martinsville, Illinois, has presented evidence 
to show that the Lincolns passed through what is now 



12 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

the western side of Parker township, Clark county. 
(See appendix P.) From Richwoods to Paradise it 
appears that the Lincolns might have gone by one of 
two ways. They could have traveled northwesterly, 
crossing the Embarras river at a point near the site of 
Charleston, or southwesterly to McCann's ford. The 
two routes were approximately the same length. In 
going to McCann's ford they could have passed through 
the point indicated by Mr. Francis withotit going far 
from a direct line. Even in the absence of positive 
proof that the crossing was made at McCann's ford, 
there is a presumption that the crossing was not made 
near Charleston. If the Lincolns had crossed the river 
at the last named point, they would have passed 
through a settlement at the site of Charleston; and if 
they had taken this route it seems strange that Mr. 
Lincoln, in speaking of the "Way" should have failed 
to mention that fact to Colonel Chapman. He does, 
however, mention such places as Richwoods and Nelson, 
the former of which was never anything more than a 
settlement, while the latter had practically disappeared 
as a town by 1861, when Mr. Lincoln described the 
route. 

With due consideration for every phase of the testi- 
mony presented by Mrs. Chapmian, it is the conclusion 
that the Lincolns traveled in a northwesterly direc- 
tion fromi Darwin to Richwoods, that they passed 
through the western part of Parker township, Clark 
county, and that the}^ crossed the Embarras river at 
McCann's ford. Evidence concerning the "Way" 
from McCann's ford to Decatur is scant but convinc- 
ing. The Halls believe that the party visited at the 
home of Ichabod Radle}^ in the Paradise settlement, and 



THE LINCOLN WAY 13 

in this belief they are supported by the opinion of others. 
(See appendix D, G.) Mr. Lincoln told Colonel Chap- 
man that the party went to Dead Man's grove, which 
was west of the site of Charleston, and northeast of the 
present city of Mattoon. (See appendix C.) John J. 
Hall often spoke of the Lincolns passing through the 
site of Mattoon. (See appendix D, G.) 

As has been already pointed out. Paradise was a 
name given to a postofhce on the headwaters of the 
Little Wabash river as well as to a settlement in that 
neighborhood. It has been proved that Ichabod 
Radley lived in that settlement at the time the Lin- 
colns moved to Illinois. It has been found to be im- 
possible, however, to locate definitely the home of 
Radley at that time. (See appendix R.) He appears 
to have been either a renter or a squatter, for it was not 
until later that he owned land in the county. Assum- 
ing that the Lincolns were in the immediate vicinity 
of Paradise postoffice, they would have gone in a 
northeasterly direction to Dead Man's grove. From 
the last named place they would have traveled in 'a 
northwesterly direction to the site of Nelson, called 
Nelson ville by Mr. Lincoln, where they crossed the 
river. None of the party has left any record of the 
route from Nelson to Decatur. It has been determined, 
however, that a road connected these points, and that 
the Lincolns entered Decatur from the south. (See 
appendix S, T.) From Decatur they went to a farm 
in Macon county, which has since come to be known as 
the "Lincoln Farm." 

From the evidence at hand it is believed that the 
following points are on the "Lincoln Way" in Illinois: 
(1) a point on the Illinois bank of the Wabash river 



14 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

opposite Vincennes, Indiana; (2) Lawrenceville ; (3) 
Christian settlement; (4) Russellville ; (5) Palestine; 
(6) Hutsonville; (7) York; (8) Darwin; (9) Rich- 
woods; (10) McCann's ford; (11) Paradise; (12) 
Mattoon; (13) Dead Man's grove; (14) Nelson; (15) 
Decatur; (16) "Lincoln Farm," Macon county. 

Several statements about the "Way" remain to be 
noticed. In the Charleston [Illinois] Daily News of 
September 12, 1912, the editor, the late James K. 
Rardin, stated that the Lincolns went from Lawrence- 
ville to Vandalia and thence to Paradise in search of a 
family named Radley. (See appendix U.) A critical 
analysis of Mr. Rardin 's statements leads to the con- 
clusion that he has confused the journey of the Lin- 
colns into Illinois with their subsequent journey from 
Macon county to Coles county. Mr. Rardin says 
that the Lincolns came to Illinois in 1831. It is defi- 
nitely known that they came in 1830. He says further 
that Radley was a candidate for office in Coles county 
at that time. The act authorizing the erection of 
Coles county was passed by the legislature in December, 
1830, nine months after the Lincolns entered Illinois, 
and the county was not organized until 1831. The 
first county election was held February 5, 1831. (See 
election returns for 1831, Coles county court house; 
appendix V.) The Lincolns could not have remained 
at the Radleys "between spring and fall" for it is 
agreed by Mr. Lincoln's biographers that Lincoln 
assisted the family in planting a crop in Macon county 
in the spring of 1830. The members of the party that 
have left any record whatever of the journey agree that 
the route to Decatur was more direct than it would 
have been had they gone through Vandalia. In this 



THE LINCOLN WAY 15 

connection, Mr. Rardin stated also that the Lincolns 
crossed the Wabash at Vincennes and passed through 
Lawrenceville. In a subsequent issue of the same 
paper, November 29, 1912, he described the journey as 
follows: "Again, and again, the Lincolns did not go to 
Vincennes, but to Mt. Carmel. They never crossed 
the Embarras at all, but having meager horse sense 
they never crossed the Little Wabash till they got 
near the source about Ewington." (See appendix U.) 
Just what caused such a radical change of opinion 
within a few weeks has not been determined. 

Mr. G. M. McConnel, son of the late Murray Mc- 
Connel of Jacksonville, Illinois, holds the opinion that 
the Lincolns passed through Vandalia when they moved 
to Illinois in 1830. This opinion is based on his 
father's account of seeing Mr. Lincoln pilot the party 
across the Kaskaskia at Vandalia. The elder Mr. 
McConnel may have seen Mr. Lincoln under similar 
circumstances at a later date; it seems certain, however, 
that he did not see him as the younger Mr. McConnel 
remembers it. In the light of Mr. Lincoln's own state- 
ment about the route taken by his family, therefore, 
it must be concluded that Vandalia is not on the "Way." 
(See appendix W.) 

During the Lincoln-Douglas debate at Charleston in 
1858, a banner stretched across the street bore the 
information that the Lincolns passed through that city 
thirty years before. It is believed that the inscription 
on the banner was merely intended by his admirers to 
mean that the Lincolns were in the vicinity. This belief 
is based on Mr. Lincoln's failure to mention such fact 
to Colonel Chapman, on Mrs. Chapman's denial that 



16 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

the Lincolns passed through the site of Charleston, on 
the evidence of the Halls who say that the Embarras 
river was crossed at McCann's ford, and on the absence 
of any tradition in and about Charleston that would 
support the contention that Charleston is on the 
"Way." 

Here and there in the appendix are to be found state- 
ments about the ''Way" that run counter to well- 
established facts. They are obviously incorrect and no 
notice has been taken of them in the report. In several 
of the articles and affidavits in the appendix there 
appear incorrect historical statements. They do not, 
however, affect the results of the investigation, and for 
that reason they have been allowed to stand without 
comment. 

Source Material 

In making this investigation the following sources 
of information have been used : 

First — Printed accounts of Mr. Lincoln's life. Prac- 
tically every important book written on Mr. Lincoln's 
life has been examined. In addition several well 
known Lincoln biographers have been consulted, 
notably Jesse W. Weik of Greencastle, Indiana; Ida 
M. Tarbell of New York, and J. McCan Davis of 
Springfield, Illinois. 

Second — (a) Maps, (b) gazetteers, (c) road laws of 
the stale, (d) United States documents. Maps and 
gazetteers have been of little value in this investigation. 
The former show only the well-established routes, 
while the latter deal almost exclusively with condi- 
tions of trade and civilization. Almost all the gazet- 
teers of the period begin their accounts after the year 



THE LINCOLN WAY 17 

1830. The road laws have also proved unsatisfactory; 
they indicate only the authorit}^ to build certain roads, 
but the repetition of many of these authorizations in 
subsequent laws leads to the conclusion that there is 
little connection between the authorization of any 
highway and its construction. In several instances, 
the reports of viewers of roads authorized by state law 
have been found in county archives and used to good 
advantage; otherwise little confidence has been placed 
in the road-making activities of the state. From 
United States documents important data on the 
Cumberland road and on mail routes have been 
gathered. 

Third — (a) County commissioners' court records, 
(b) state archives (Illinois). The records of the 
county commissioners' courts of Coles and Shelby 
counties are unusually complete. The former begin 
in the year 1831, the latter in 1827. In Knox county, 
Indiana (Vincennes), the county archives date from 
1814. The archives of Lawrence, Crawford, Clark, 
Edgar, Cumberland, Moultrie, and Macon counties, 
Illinois, have been of little value in this investigation. 
Practically all the early records of these counties have 
been lost. As the report will show, little evidence of a 
positive character has been gathered from these 
archives. The location of public highways, for in- 
stance, is usually indicated by such expressions as 
"from John Smith's cabin to a stake in the prairie." 
Equally disappointing have been the state archives. 
Altogether something like thirty thousand different 
manuscripts have been examined, and in order to 
avoid errors each manuscript has been examined twice. 



18 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

Fourth — (a) Surveyors' records, (b) stage-routing 
books and sheets, (c) mail contracts. Little evidence 
has been gathered from these sources. Surveyors' 
records give scant attention to roads, trails, and fords, 
while stage-routing books and sheets, and mail con- 
tracts indicate approximate distances only. 

Fifth — Contemporary newspapers. The papers ex- 
amined for this period are the Western Sun, Vincennes, 
Indiana, the Illinois Intelligencer, Vandalia, Illinois, 
and the Missouri Republican, St. Louis, Missouri. It 
was hoped that from these sources something might be 
learned of the trend of immigration, of the location of 
roads and settlements, and of the stages of water in 
the rivers. From the first named paper only has any 
information bearing on this investigation been secured. 
Altogether some five hundred issues of these papers 
have been examined. 

Sixth — (a) Interviews with old settlers, (b) exami- 
nation of the remains of old roads and trails. During 
the three years in which the investigation has been 
carried on visits have been made along what appeared 
to be the "Way." It was not to be expected that the 
experiences of any great number of the people living 
would reach back to 1830. It was expected, however, 
and the expectation was realized, that the pioneers 
could assist in locating early trails, roads, and fords. 
Without their assistance the labors of the investigation 
would have been more arduous and prolonged. The 
examination of the remains of roads and trails has been 
the means in many cases of verifying both documen- 
tary and oral evidence. 

Seventh — Land entries and land conveyances. In 
those sections in which there have been doubts as to the 



THE LINCOLN WAY 19 

approximate location of roads between known points 
on the "Way," an examination of land entries has been 
made. It was not expected that the areas entered 
and the areas actually settled would coincide. It was 
expected, however, that the entries would indicate 
roughly the location of settlements; and without a 
single exception such has been found to be the case. 

Eighth — County histories. The history of every 
county that seemed likely to be concerned in the inves- 
tigation has been examined. This source has proved 
valuable in several cases, notably in connection with 
land entries. The history of Moultrie county, for 
example, confirms the opinions that the early land 
entries near Nelson were made by men who had 
preceded the Lincolns from the Wabash country. 

Ninth — New^spapers issued between 1854 and 1861. 
It had been hoped that an examination of the leading 
Illinois newspapers issued after 1854 would reveal some- 
thing about Mr. Lincoln's entry into Illinois. In this 
phase of the investigation ten thousand issues of ten 
different papers have been examined. With one nota- 
ble exception, the examination has resulted in failure. 

Tenth — Statements of members of the Lincoln party, 
or of their descendants. Evidence coming either 
directly or indirectly from those who composed the 
Lincoln party deserves special attention in this inves- 
tigation, for it is obvious that from no other source 
could it possibly be derived. Care has been taken, 
however, to test its accuracy; and whenever it re- 
quired impossible conditions to make it plausible, or 
ran counter to better known facts, it has been rejected 
and the reasons for its rejection given in the report. 
At least three members of the part}^ Mr. Lincoln, 



20 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

Mrs. Harriet Chapman of Charleston, and the late 
Mrs. Sarah Jane Dowling, have made detailed state- 
ments about the "Way." Those of Mr. Lincoln and 
Mrs. Dowling have been handed down by others, 
while that of Mrs. Chapman, which is based in part 
on experience and in part on information gained from 
her elders, was made for the first time to those in 
charge of the "Lincoln Way" investigation. Mr. Lin- 
coln's account was given to Colonel Chapman thirty 
years after the events described and thirty-five years 
later it was handed on, apparently from memory, to 
Mr. Weik, who made a written record of it. The cir- 
cumstances under which this statement was made, 
however, and the manner of its transmission to this 
investigation stamp it with a considerable degree of 
authenticity, for neither Lincoln nor Colonel Chapman, 
to whom he related the incidents of his entry into Illi- 
nois, nor Mr. Weik, who considered it of too little im- 
portance to make public until the present time, appeared 
to have the slightest idea of its historical value. 
John J. Hall, another member of the party, has handed 
down his information about the "Way" through his 
children, but as far as is known no written record was 
made of it prior to the beginning of this investigation. 
Although a mere lad at the time the Lincolns came to 
Illinois, he grew to manhood in the associations of Mr. 
and Mrs. Thomas Lincoln and his father. Squire Hall. 
Both families lived for years in Coles county near the 
route traveled in 1830, and it is to be expected that 
they often spoke of their journey through that part of 
the country. Young Hall in time became familiar with 
the story, and in after life often related it to his chil- 
dren and to the neighbors. It seemed to be of little 



THE LINCOLN WAY 21 

importance to those who heard it, so much so that they 
can recall only what was said about the journey through 
their own neighborhood. The statements by the Halls 
and the Bowlings about the "Way" were made before 
the "Lincoln Way" investigation had been proposed. 
Mrs. Dowling gave her account of the journey to her 
son, while the Halls are positively known to have be- 
lieved several years ago that the Lincolns crossed the 
Embarras river at McCann's ford, and passed through 
the Paradise settlements. 

Eleventh — Tradition. Unreliable as tradition may be 
in historical investigation, it has been used in this in- 
vestigation with gratifying results. Three years ago 
the newspapers of the state gave publicity to the 
"Lincoln Way" investigation. Through their col- 
umns the people were asked to submit any information 
on the subject they might have. During the inter- 
vening period an agitation for evidence has been 
carried on through the newspapers, and by private 
correspondence and by lectures on the subject in 
several of the principal cities of the state. In the fall 
of 1914, a second general request for information was 
made through the columns of all the papers of the 
state and of the metropolitan papers outside the state. 
As a result of this publicit}^ it is believed that people 
in all sections of the country have had the "Lincoln 
Way" project called to their attention. Instead of 
the babel that was expected to result from this method 
of procedure, scarcely a tradition has arisen that would 
cause the "Way" to deviate materially from what ap- 
pears to be its route, which fact may be verified by an 
examination of the appendix of this report. The 



22 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

absence of conflicting tradition therefore appears not 
only to stamp the authenticity of the tradition held 
along the way, but also to indicate the reluctance of 
people generally to manufacture tradition for selfish 
purposes. 



THE LINCOLN WAY 23 



APPENDIX A 

Affidavit of James Wade Emison 
State of Indiana, 



ss 
Knox County 

James Wade Emison being duly sworn upon his oath says that 
he was born on the 7th day of February, 1859, on a farm near the 
town of Bruce ville, Knox county, Indiana, which said farm was 
settled by Richard Posey of South Carolina somewhere about the 
year 1800. 

Affiant further says that his grandfather, WiUiam W. C. 
Einison, was bom at Georgetown, Kentucky, in 1804. That in 
1805, the said William W. C. Emison's parents moved from George- 
town, Kentucky, to a point on Mariah creek, in Knox county, 
Indiana, on the Bruceville and Russellville highway. That the 
said William W. C. Emison upon arriving at the age of manhood 
intermarried with Elizabeth Posey, the daughter of said Richard 
Posey, and thereafter made his homiC upon said Posey farm, said 
farm in the course of years coming into his possession and there- 
after into the possession and ownership of the son of said Wil- 
liam W. C. Emison, to wit, John W. Emison, who was the father 
of this affiant. 

Affiant further says that the Vincennes and Bruceville highway 
passed along the western edge of said farm, and has been located 
practically upon its present route for more than one hundred 
years last past. 

Affiant further says that his said grandfather many tim^es 
called his attention to the point upon said highway where he had 
first seen Abraham Lincoln. That said point so designated by 
him was within a short distance of the Posey and Emison home- 
stead, and at a point which is now immediately in front of the 
present Emison homestead. 

Affiant further says that his said grandfather stated that 
Abraham Lincoln and his father, together with his father's family. 



24 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

and one Mr. Hanks were moving in wagons, drawn by ox teams, 
and that this occurred in the year of 1830. That Abraham Lin- 
cohi at that time and place stated to him that they had come 
from southern Indiana, from the locaHty now known as Spencer 
county, and that they were moving to the Sangamon country, 
in the state of Illinois. 

Affiant further says that his said grandfather and father talked 
of these things many times in the presence of this affiant, and 
further related many times how it was that said Abraham 
Lincoln had returned to the town of Bruceville in the year 1844, 
and made a political speech at that time. 

Affiant further says that both his said father and grandfather 
were Fremont Republicans, and were ardent admirers and sup- 
porters of Abraham Lincoln, and that it was on account of their 
great admiration for and devotion to Abraham Lincoln that they 
often talked of matters herein set forth. 

Affiant further says that the Emison family at the time herein 
spoken of were owners of the stage line, both freight and passen- 
ger, from Evansville in the state of Indiana, to Terre Haute in 
the state of Indiana. That said stage line north of Vincennes and 
for a distance of some five or six miles was through heavy sand, 
and that Mr. Lincoln explained to his said grandfather that they 
had come around by way of Bruceville, which was slightly out of 
their way, in order that they might avoid driving through said 
stretch of heavy sand. 

Affiant further says that his said grandfather in relating the story 
of his meeting with Lincoln informed him that Mr. Lincoln said 
that when they reached the town of Bruceville, which was a short 
distance away, they proposed to twcn west on the Bruceville and 
Russell ville highway, and cross the Wabash river from the state 
of Indiana, to the state of Illinois, at the Russellville ford. 

Affiant further says that his said father and grandfather in 
after years became warm personal friends of the said Abraham 
Lincoln, and that on account of their said relations with him, and 
on account of the disposition of his said grandfather at all times 
to be exact and truthful in all his statements, he has no question 
but that his said grandfather's story of his first meeting with 



THE LINCOLN WAY 25 

Abraham Lincoln, and the conversations had between them are 
in all things true. 

James Wade Emison 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of November, 
1912. 

William S. Hoover 

Notary Public 

Affidavit of W. O. Roach 
State of Indiana, \ 



Knox County / 



ss. 



William O. Roach, being duly sworn upon his oath, says that he 
is sixty-three years of age past. That during his childhood, through 
his youth, and up to the period of manhood he lived in the famil}^ 
of John W. Emison, who was the son of William W. C. Emison, 
and the father of James Wade Emison, who is at this time a prac- 
ticing lawyer in the city of Vincennes, Knox county, Indiana. 
That he knew William W. C. Emison well. That he often heard 
him speak of the first time he had ever seen Abraham Lincoln. 
That he pointed out a spot on the Vincennes and Bruceville high- 
way where he had seen him. That he said it was in the year of 
1830. That the Lincoln family were moving from Spencer 
county, Indiana, to the Sangamon country, in the state of Illi- 
nois. That they were driving ox teams. That they told him 
they had diverged from the old stage road, and come around by 
Bruceville in order to avoid the heavy sand in the stage road. 
That after they arrived at the town of Bruceville, which was near 
by, and which was an old settlement, having been founded before 
the year 1800, they proposed to turn west on the Bruceville and 
Russellville road, and cross the Wabash river from the state of 
Indiana to the state of Illinois at the ford located near the town of 
Russellville. 

Affiant further says that immediately after the assassination of 
Abraham Lincoln, he heard the said William W. C. Emison and his 
son, John W. Emison, and his brother-in-law, Dr. John Posey, 
talking about the Lincoln pilgrimage from Indiana to Illinois. 



26 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

That upon this occasion the said William W. C. Emison spoke 
of the place where he had first seen Abraham Lincoln and repeated 
substantially the story hereinbefore set forth. 

Affiant further says that the said Emisons were warm friends 
and great admirers of the said Lincoln, and his life and character 
were with them a fiTiitful source of conversation. Ql^ 

Affiant further says that some time between the years 1872 and 
1880, he heard Joseph Van Meter, who was at that time a very old 
man, and who lived near the Emison mill located on the Bruce- 
ville and Russellville highway, say that the Lincolns in traveling 
west in the year 1830 had camped over night near said mill. 
That he saw them at that time and talked to them as to where they 
came from, and where they were going. 

W. O. Roach 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of November, 
1912. 

W. C. WiTTENMYER 

Notary Public 



Affidavit of W. A. Taylor 
State of Indiana, 



ss 
Knox County 

. William A. Taylor being duly sworn upon his oath says that he is 
fifty-six years of age past. That in the year 1830, his mother 
was a child six years of age, and lived in the town of Bruceville, 
Knox county, Indiana. 

That he had often heard her say that the Lincoln family in mov- 
ing from the state of Indiana to the Sangamon country in Illi- 
nois, came from Vincennes, and passed through Bruceville, cross- 
ing the Wabash river into Illinois at Russellville ford. 

Affiant further says that his mother spoke of these things often, 
and that the Lincolns and his mother's family had been former 
friends ; further stating that at the time said family passed through 
Bruceville, she saw them and conversed with them. 

Affiant further says that his stepfather. Dr. McGowen, often 
related to him the fact that when Mr. Lincoln and his family 



THE LINCOLN WAY 27 

removed from Indiana to Illinois, that the family came into Knox 
county by crossing at the Apraw ford on White river. That 
the Lincolns and the McGowens had been friends and acquaint- 
ances and neighbors in earlier years in the state of Kentucky. 
That the McGowens lived at said Apraw ford, and that the Lin- 
colns stopped over night with the McGowens at said Apraw ford. 
That thereafter they journeyed to Vincennes, and afterwards re- 
sumed their journey leaving the city of Vincennes by the Bruce- 
ville road, passing through Bruceville, and then turning in a 
westerly direction on the Bruceville and Russell ville road, and 
crossing the Wabash river at Russell ville ford. 

Affiant further says that his said mother and his said step- 
father spoke often of said journey, and spoke of the fact that the 
family were moving with ox wagons. 

W. A. Taylor 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of November, 
1912. 

William S. Hoover 

Notary Public 



Affidavit of William J. Trout 
State of Indiana, 1 

y gg 

Knox County J 

William J. Trout being duly sworn upon his oath says that he is 
sixty-eight years of age past. That he is the eldest son of the 
Daniel J. Trout hereinafter mentioned in his relations with 
William W. C. Emison. 

Affiant further says that in the early times the site of the town 
of Bruceville was the meeting point of several important Indian 
tribes. That this fact no doubt determined the location of said 
town. 

Affiant further says that one Indian trail ran in a northeasterly 
course from Vincennes, passing through Bruceville, and ending 
at the west end of Lake Erie. That another Indian trail extended 
directly north to the south end of Lake Michigan. That another 



28 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

Indian trail, and the most important of all of said trails, ran east 
passing out of the county of Knox at Apraw on White river, and 
west passing out of said county opposite Russell ville, Illinois. 

Affiant further says that this trail extended to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
and all points lying east, and was a trail connecting Cincinnati 
and Palestine, Illinois. That said trail was an ideal natural high- 
way, and avoided unfordable streams, dense forests, and wet and 
marshy lowlands. That said trail was much used, first by the In- 
dians, afterwards by white traders, hunters, and trappers in going 
and returning on their trips, and thereafter by movers going west. 

Afhant further says that if there ever was a trail such as the 
foregoing, leading south from any point in Knox county, and 
crossing the main stream of White river, he never heard of it, and 
further that he does not believe there ever was such a trail, or could 
have been one. The deep streams, the wide bottoms, the dense 
forests, and drowned lowlands of this region made it impossible. 

Affiant further says that the Lincoln family in their removal 
from Spencer county, Indiana, to the Sangamon country in Illi- 
nois, would have been forced by the natural lay of the country 
to have traveled along a route lying east of the west fork of the 
White river, and that the natural and only practicable course of 
travel from their starting point was to have traveled through 
Pike county and Daviess county to a point on the west fork of the 
White river, known as Apraw ford. That said route was not only 
well marked and much traveled, but was located upon high ground, 
and across the most easily fordable streams. That from said 
point at Apraw, said highway, which had theretofore been an In- 
dian trail, passed in a westerly direction through Bruce ville, and 
thereafter passed the Emison mill, located on Mariah creek, and 
which was built in 1807, and thence on in a westerly direction to 
the ford crossing the Wabash river at Russellville, and thence on 
to Palestine. 

Affiant further says that said route was the only practicable one 
which the Lincolns could have taken in their journey from Indi- 
ana to Illinois. 

Affiant further says that he had alway been informed and be- 
lieved that after crossing White river at said Apraw ford, the 
Lincoln family then journe3'ed over a well marked out highway to 



THE LINCOLN WAY 29 

Vincennes, and that said highway from said ford at Apraw, to Vin- 
cennes was upon high land, and was an excellent natural highway. 

Affiant further says that they visited Vincennes, which was the 
most noted point in all the western country, and a place at which 
was located a government l^nd office and one of the very few 
printing presses then in existence in the West. 

Affiant further says that naturally upon leaving Vincennes, said 
Lincoln family would have resumed their journe}^ to the Sanga- 
mon country by going to Bruceville, as the nearest practicable way 
to get into the great line of east and west travel hereinbefore 
spoken of; further that the line of the Lincoln pilgrimage must 
of natural necessity have been from Apraw to Vincennes, thence 
to Bruceville, thence to Russellville, Illinois. 

Affiant further says that the Lincolns cotdd not have crossed 
into Illinois at Vincennes, and thence up to Russellville for the 
reason that the country north of Vincennes and west of the 
Wabash river was full of impassable swamps, and contained one 
deep river, towit, the Embarras. 

Affiant further says that his father started in about the year 
1837 to learn the tanner's trade of William W. C. Emison, who 
resided near Bruceville, and lived all or most of the time in said 
Emison family until his own marriage in 1843. 

Affiant further says that his said father remained working for 
the said William W. C. Emison in his tanyard until the year 1845, 
at which time he moved to Edwardsport, on the west fork of 
White river, in Knox county, buying and operating a tanyard 
of his own. 

Affiant further says that his said father lived in said Knox 
county until his death in 1874. 

Affiant further says that he heard his father at different times 
make mention of Lincoln's journey, and that he feels assured that 
the story he related was learned from said William W. C. Emison, 
the same in all things agreeing with the story related by James 
Wade Emison, who is the grandson of William W. C. Emison. 

William J. Trout 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 4th day of November, 
1912. R. L. McClure 

Notary Public 



30 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

Notes from County Commissioners Court Records, 
Knox County, Indiana 

Three ferries licensed by the proper official of Knox county for 
1830, to carry passengers, wagons, etc., across the Wabash river 
at Vincennes. Road overseers appointed for road leading from 
Vincennes to John McCarty's ferry on Wabash river, west of 
Shakertown. Ferry license granted to John McCarty for the 
year 1830. The road to the ferry was in existence as nearly as 1814 
and perhaps earlier. 

APPENDIX B 

Affidavit of Harriet Chapman 

State of Illinois, \ 
Coles County / 

Charleston, Illinois 

Harriet Chapman being first duly sworn, on oath, deposes and 
says that she is now and has been for more than seventy-five (75) 
years last past a resident of Charleston, Coles county, Illinois, 
and that she is now past eighty-six (86) years of age. 

Affiant further states that she was a member of the Lincoln 
party that came from Spencer county, Indiana, to Decatur, Illi- 
nois, in the year 1830. 

Affiant further states that the party had three covered wagons, 
two drawn by oxen, and one by horses, and two saddle horses; 
also that the party consisted of affiant, her father and mother, 
Dennis F. Hanks and Elizabeth Hanks; her brother, John Hanks, 
and her sisters, Sarah Jane and Nancy Hanks; Squire Hall and 
wife, Matilda Hall, and one child named John Hall; Thomas Lin- 
coln and his wife, Sarah Lincoln, and child, Abraham Lincoln, 
and John Johnson. ^ 

1 Johnson signed his name "Johnston". There are accounts showing that 
the party had but one ox team; in speaking of Greenup, the site of Greenup 
is intended ; by an oversight there was omitted from this aflSdavit the follow- 
ing: "The affiant further states that her knowledge of events as sworn to in 
this affidavit is based upon remembrances and upon hearing her parents talk 
after she became a young lady." 



THE LINCOLN WAY 31 

Affiant further states that she is related to Abraham Lincoln in 
this way: "That her father was a second cousin to Abraham Lin- 
coln, and that affiant was by marriage a granddaughter of 
Thomas Lincoln, said Thomas Lincoln's wife Sarah, being a 
grandmother of affiant." 

Affiant further states that the party was at Vincennes, Indiana, 
and that the party in leaving Vincennes went by land, camped the 
first night out near a grist mill ; that the party crossed the Wabash 
river the next day (the second day after leaving Vincennes, 
Indiana) . 

Affiant further states that the party passed through Palestine, 
Illinois ; that she remembers said town from the fact that it had a 
Bible name. 

Affiant further states that the party finally reached the na- 
tional road, and crossed the Embarras river at Greenup, Illi- 
nois; passed through Paradise, located in what is now the south- 
western comer of Coles county, Illinois. 

Affiant states that she has often heard her father, Dennis Hanks, 
speak of crossing the Embarras river at Greenup, Illinois, and 
that the cause of said Hanks speaking of this event repeatedly was 
that he afterwards worked on the bridge built at that point. 

Affiant further states that the party did not follow the national 
road far west of Greenup, that it did not go to Vandalia, Illinois, 
and that the trip was made directly to Decatur. 

Affiant further states that she is in possession of a photograph of 
Abraham Lincoln; that said photograph was sent to her by Mr. 
Lincoln accompanied by a letter, in which he stated "that I am 
sending you the photograph that I promised you." The letter 
ftuther states that "this is the first photograph that I have ever 
had taken." 

Harriet Chapman 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of November, 
A. D. 1912. 

W. 0. Bennett 
Notary Public 



32 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 



APPENDIX C 



Extract from Letter of Jesse W. Weik 

Febraary 26, 1913 
Mr. C. M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 

My dear Sir: 

I have just finished a careful examination of my Lincoln papers 
in the hope that I might be able to find something of material 
value in connection with the matter of the route traveled by the 
Lincolns in their journey from this state to lUinois in 1830. Away 
back in the early eighties I often met and talked with Dennis 
Hanks, as also did Mr. Herndon, but I do not recall that the 
question of the route of travel ever came up in our talks. 

Hastily but truly, 

Jesse W. Weik 

Extract from Letter of Jesse W. Weik 

November 22, 1913 
Mr. C. M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 

My dear Sir: 

I rejoice to tell you that I have just found what I have for lo, 
these many months been hunting and that is the original manu- 
script of an interview with the late Colonel Chapman of Charles- 
ton, IlHnois, giving the route the Lincoln family took in making 
their way to Illinois in 1830. The information was imparted by 
Mr. Lincoln to Chapman during a ride from Charleston to the 
site of his father's grave in February, 1860 [January, 1861]. 

Hastily, 
Jesse W. Weik 



THE LINCOLN WAY 33, 

Letter of Jesse W. Weik with Ixclosures 

November 28, 1913 
Mr. C. M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
My dear Sir: 

I inclose herewith a copy of ni}^ interview with Colonel Chap- 
man and his wife in January, 1896. Please read it and tell me 
what 3'ou think of it. I add also a copy of a letter written by 
Colonel Chapman to Mr. Hemdon in October, 1865. I inclose 
besides a rough draft of a map of Coles county on which a friend 
in Charleston has indicated the site of the Dead Man's grove 
mentioned in Chapman's interview. I have written to a man in 
Clark county to indicate on a map where the settlement known as 
Richwoods stood; also to a party in Moultrie county to fix the 
location of Nelsonville. When their reports come in if you want 
them I will gladly supply you with them. 

Very respectfully, 

Jesse W. Weik 

[Statement of Colonel Chapman] 

Charleston, Illinois, January 3, 1896 

Colonel Augustus H. Chapman : married daughter of Dennis Hanks 
and latter has been living with us off and on for many years ; have 
often talked to him about the journey from Indiana to Kentucky 
in 1839; also with Sarah Bush Lincoln, his m.other-in-law, who 
also lived in my family for some time prior to her death in 1869. 
Late in January, 1861, when Mr. Lincoln came to Charleston to 
visit his stepmother I rode with him to the graveyard in the 
country where his father was buried; he had spent the previous 
night at my house where the old lady then lived. We got to talk- 
ing about the journey from Indiana in 1830; he agreed substan- 
tially with Hanks as to the route they took ; said they went from 
Gentry ville to Jasper in Dubois county; thence to Washington, 
Daviess county; thence to Vincennes where they crossed the 
Wabash; thence towards Lawrenceville where they turned north 
and pushed on to Palestine in Crawford county. At Palestine they 



34 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

found a great many people drawn there by the land office. They 
kept on north paralleling the river to Darwin where they left the 
Wabash behind them. At this point they set off in a northwest- 
wardly direction passing through Richwoods in Clark county; 
thence to a point about six miles west of Charleston called Dead 
Man's grove; thence north through Nelsonville, Moultrie county, 
to Decatur where they stopped. 

[Statement of Mrs. Chapman] 
Mrs. Harriett Chapman: wife of Colonel Chapman, daughter of 
Dennis Hanks and granddaughter of Sarah Bush Lincoln ; says her 
grandmother told her the first printing press and the first Indians 
Mr. Lincoln ever saw were at Vincennes; on the way to Illinois 
she and her daughters rode on horseback a good part of the way ; 
the small children were in the wagon; the sidesaddles were 
bought with the money that was due and paid to her in Kentucky, 
and which she rode there from Indiana, after her first husband's 
death, to collect. 

[Notes from Letter of Chapman to Herndon, October 8, 1865] 
Thomas Lincoln moved from Indiana to Illinois in a large four- 
horse wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen; only wagon he ever 
owned ; brought with him some stock cattle ; one horse ; three beds 
and bedding; one bureau; one table; one set chairs; cooking 
utensils; clothing etc. There were three families together: Lin- 
colns. Halls and Hanks. Squire Hall and Dennis Hanks had 
married sisters and they were stepdaughters of Thomas Lincoln. 
Abe Lincoln drove his father's ox team. The waters were very 
high at the time and they came near losing their team, wagon 
and contents in crossing the Okaw or Kaskaskia river. 

Letter of Jesse W. Weik with Inclosures 

December 12, 1913 
Mr. C. M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
My dear Sir: 

The surveyor of Moultrie county not having promptly answered 
me, I wrote to my old friend ex-Senator Beveridge at Indianapolis 



THE LINCOLN WAY 35 

who was reared to manhood in Moultrie county. He knew noth- 
ing about Nelsonville, but wrote to his brother-in-law living in 
Sullivan. Herewith is his answer. 

Hastily, 

J. W. Weik 

[Letter from Beveridge to Eden] 

December 10, 1913 
My dear Eden: 

Please do me the favor of finding out just where Nelsonville 
was and indicating on the inclosed map, sending it to Mr. Weik. 
I never heard of the place, but undoubtedly there was such a place. 

If you don't recall it, some of the older men in the county surely 
will know about it. 

Their statements must be credible as this is to go into an 
important book. 

With best wishes. 



Faithfully, 
Albert J. Beveridge 



Mr. E. B. Eden, 

Sullivan, Illinois. 



[Extract of Letter from Eden to Weik] 

Mr. Jesse W. Weik, 

Greencastle, Indiana 
My dear Sir: 

The name of the first county seat was Nelson without the ville 
and was located about three and one-half miles from Sullivan the 
present county seat on the Okaw or Kaskaskia river. 



I have indicated on the inclosed outline the location of Nelson. 

Yours, 
E. B. Eden 



36 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

Letter of Shuman to Weik 

Sullivan, Illinois, December 10, 1913 
Jesse W. Weik, Esq., 

Greencastle, Indiana. 
Dear Sir: 

Your letter of the 8th received and will be glad to give you such 
information as I can. 

The village to which you refer is Nelson, instead of Nelsonville. 
Moultrie county has been my home for over fifty years and I 
am familiar with the towns, villages, etc., within the bounds of 
the county. We sometimes call the place old Nelson but never 
Nelsonville. 

It is located about five miles southeast of Sullivan, on the 
P. D. & E. (now branch of I. C.) R. R. Nelson was for many 
years the only voting place in East Nelson township. If you have 
a county map you can locate it where sections 20, 21, 16, and 17 
corner, as that is exactly where the town was laid off. Nelson was 
formerly of more importance than at present. At one time, I 
believe, there was talk of making it the county seat of Moultrie 
county. Lincoln attended court at Nelson. 

At present about ten or a dozen families live at Nelson. My 
farm is located two miles west of Nelson on the railroad and as 
I lived on this place a number of years, I am well acquainted with 
the surrounding country. I should have stated that Nelson is 
located in East Nelson township and on the old wagon road 
between Sullivan and Charleston. 

Trusting this will be of some assistance to you and assuring you 
of my willingness to aid you with any additional information you 
may desire, I am, 

Yours very truly, 

Chas. Shuman 



THE LINCOLN WAY 37 

APPENDIX D 

Letter of Jessie Palmer Weber with Inclosures 

December 13, 1912 
Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
My dear Mr. Thompson: 

I am inclosing to you a copy of an article which was published 
some years ago in the Springfield News. I do not know whether or 
not you have seen it. This Mr. Dowling is an employee here in the 
state house and is a very good and intelligent man, and extremely 
interested in this matter. It is quite possible that you have seen 
this account, but I thought it might be of interest to you, and I 
inclose it. Mr. Dowling also has a little state map which he has 
marked as the route which he thinks the Lincoln family took. 
With kind regards, I am 

Very truly yours, 
Jessie Palmer Weber 

[Extract from Springfield News] 
HOW LINCOLN CAME TO ILLINOIS. 



Recollections of a Member of the Party which Emigrated 
FROM Spencer County, Ind., in 1830. 



told by one present. 



Mrs. Sarah Jane Dowling Tells of Famous Journey and Gives 
Interesting Information about Lincoln Family. 



It was in the spring of 1830 according to the biographers that 
Abraham Lincoln with his father and stepmother and a party of 
relatives left his home in Spencer county, Indiana, and in regard to 
this hegira a new and interesting story has been learned from the 



38 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

lips of one of those who were in the party. The story in its main 
points is not new, but it contains some facts that seem to have 
escaped the historians. Mrs. Sarah Jane DowHng of Charleston, 
a daughter of Dennis Hanks, nephew of Nancy Hanks, the mother 
of Abraham Lincoln tells the story and to her son, Dennis Hanks 
Dowling The News is indebted for it. Mr. Dowling, who is a 
clerk in the supply department of the secretary of state's office, 
relates the facts as they have been told to him often by his mother 
and from memoranda which he has preserved. 

The route followed by the party was by Vincennes, Indiana, and 
Lawrence ville, Illinois, up through Palestine and through the 
southern part of Clark and the western part of Coles county, near 
the site of Mattoon, and thence direct to Decatur. Mrs. Dowling 
says that they lived in Macon county for about a year when the 
chills and fever were so bad that they became discouraged and 
started back to Indiana. In the meantime Abraham Lincoln had 
left the party and started out in life for himself. Arriving at 
Wabash Point, where Mattoon now is, they came across two 
families, the Sawyers and Radleys, who were related to the Lin- 
colns and these people induced them to remain in Coles county. 
Thomas Lincoln located eight miles south of Charleston and 
lived there the rest of his life with the excepcion of two years, that 
he and Dennis Hanks ran a grist mill on the Embarras river. 
This fact, Mrs. Dowling sa3^s, is not generally known. Thomas 
Lincoln moved back to the old home place, where he died in 1851, 
and is buried in the old Gordon graveyard, one and one-half miles 
west. His wife died in 1869, while she was living at the old home 
place with John J. Hall. 

According to che story of Mrs. DowHng the party traveled from 
Indiana in two wagons. One was drawn by oxen and the other 
by horses, the latter wagon being occupied by the Hall and Hanks 
family. The men of the party walked most of the way and each 
one carried an axe which they used to cut their way through bush 
and to build temporary bridges across creeks and sloughs. Among 
the men that walked were the three Halls, Squire, Alfred, and 



THE LINCOLN WAY 39 

Joseph; Dennis Hanks and Abraham Lincoln. "Uncle" Thomas 
Lincoln attended to the welfare of the teams and the women and 
children of the party. 



Letter of D. H. Dowling 

January 1, 1913 
Charles M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
Dear Sir: 

In regard to the route taken by the Lincoln family after they 
left Palestine, Illinois, for Macon county, there is very much doubt. 
But from conversations had with my mother on the subject my 
impression is that they came as described in my Springfield News 
article written several years ago. About four miles south and 
west of Mattoon, Illinois, at that time was a small settlement 
called Wabash Point where resided some relatives of Sarah Bush 
Lincoln by the name of Radley and Sawyer, and it was through 
the influence of these relatives that Thomas Lincoln and Dennis 
Hanks were induced to locate in Coles county, after they had 
decided to return to Indiana from Macon county, Illinois. At 
that time, there was no place called Mattoon and only a few houses 
in Charleston where Dennis Hanks and family located in 1832. 

In early days there were several stage routes, leading through 
Charleston — one to St. Louis, one to Springfield, Illinois, one to 
Terre Haute, Indiana, and one to Vincennes, Indiana, and it is 
quite probable that after they left Palestine they came by the 
Vincennes route to Charleston and followed the state road west to 
Wabash Point and from thence to Macon county For fiurther 
information as to the state roads and stage lines leading from 
Charleston to Vincennes, Indiana, I would suggest that you write 
or have an interview with John Lee residing with his son, the 
Hon. C. C. Lee, Charleston, Illinois; also David Green, attomey- 
at-law, Toledo, Illinois. These gentlemen are very old men and 
would probably r^jmember. The map I have is worth nothing 
for history; it is only my idea of the route. 

Will be glad to be of assistance at any time. 

Yours ti-uly, 

D. H. Dowling 



40 > LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

APPENDIX E 
Statement of Z. D. French 

Lawrenceville, Illinois 
It is the tradition in and around the city of Lawrenceville, Illi- 
nois, that the Lincoln family in going from Indiana to Illinois 
crossed the Wabash river at Vincennes, Indiana, entered Law- 
renceville on what is now State street, turned northward on what 
is now Tenth street, crossed the Embarras river at the point where 
a steel bridge now stands, and journeyed to Palestine. 

Z. D. French 

APPENDIX F 

Many people in Clark county hold the opinion that the Lin- 
colns traveled in a northwesterly direction from York, on an old 
Indian trail, and not on to Darwin. Because of this opinion the 
evidence supporting the opinion is included in the report. 

Extract from Letter of J. F. Lafferty 

Martinsville, Illinois, November 14th, 1912 

Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
Dear Sir: 

Inclosed (in separate package per express) you will find skel- 
eton map with but few streams marked, and none of the dirt 
roads. In fact there were no laid out roads before 1836 in this 
county. All travel was on trails. The "United States road" (so 
called by the engineers of the regular army) was laid out and 
surveyed- — and the trees grubbed out in 1828 and 1829 — but no 
grading done until 1830 and no bridges built until after that date 
— see records at Springfield on file. A record at Marshall shows 
a trail crossing this road and the North Fork of the Embarras 
in section 6 T. 10 N. R. 13 W. near the present town of Martins- 
ville— but no other trail between it and the state line. The name 



THE LINCOLN WAY 41 

and rank of the officers who made this profile were on it but no 
date. Joshua Chancellor and his father's family came here from 
Kentucky in 1829, crossing the Wabash at Vincennes, and follow- 
ing the Old Indian trail from Palestine located a cabin on section 
6 T. 10 N. R. 13 W. They had only two neighbors, Bena Dolson 
(west half of southwest quarter of section 7 T. 9 N. R. 12 W.) 
and George Parker located on the west half of southeast quarter 
of section 31 T. 12 N. R. 14 W., each about twelve miles away. 
There were thirteen tribes of Indians on the North Fork in this 
county and Crawford and Edgar counties, because General Har- 
rison's treaty banished them west of the boundary line (see map.) 
The Piankashaw had a wigwam town of about five hundred on 
section 2 T. 11 N. R. 14 W.; the Mingo in T. 12 N. R. 14 W.; the 
Kickapoo and others in T. 9 N. R. 14 W. They left the valley, 
1832, taking the trail northwest, crossing the fords on the river 
southeast of where Charleston is now located. 

The land records at Springfield will show you when each town 
and range was surveyed — and the field books of the surveyors 
where the land lines cross the creeks — timber — prairies — ravines — 
ridges — Indian trails, etc., etc.; and you can get them and you 
and your topographer can run them in on the skeleton map I send 
you so that you can see at a glance the whole route from the start 
to the finish. 

Yours truly, 
John F. Lafferty 

Extract from Letter of John F. Lafferty 

Martinsville, Illinois, December 7, 1912 
Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
Dear Sir: 

I have sent four blank townships to Mr. A. Harrison and re- 
quested him to mark the trail in T. 8 N. R. 11 W. (Crawford 
county) and also in T. 9 N. R. 11 W. and T. 9 N. R. 12 W., with the 
location of Fort Handy, etc. The Indian village was about three- 



42 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

fourths of a mile northwest of Old York — near the center of sec- 
tion 33 T. 9 N. R. 11 W. (see map of Clark county). Fort Handy 
was on the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 
20 T. 9 N. R. 11 W., three-fourths of a mile south and one-fourth 
of a mile east of West Union (see map). 

Mr. Harrison traced the trail from section 3?) T. 8 N. R. 11 W. 
(Crawford county) commencing near the southeast corner of the 
southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of said section ZZ T. 
8 N. R. 11 W., thence north crossing the northeast comer of sec- 
tion 32 T. 8 N. R. 11 W., thence northwesterly through section 
29 T. 8 N. R. 11 W., passing Hutsonville through the west side of 
the present town, thence northerly through southeast sections 
20, 17, and 18, passing east of I. K. Musgrave's residence on the 
south half of the southeast quarter of section 18 T. 8 N. R. 11 W. 
Thence northerly through the northeast quarter of section 7 T. 8 
N. R. 11 W. Thence north and east through sections 6 and 5 to 
the county line about one-half a mile west of the graveyard west 
of Old York. This tracing commences six miles north of the town 
of Palestine and is followed closely by a wagon road (see county 
map of Crawford county). 

********** 

You will notice that it [the tracing by Mr. Harrison] strikes the 
Old Indian (or Palestine) trail on section 7 T. 9 N. R. 12 W. at 
the house of Benjamin Dolson which was built in 1824. I have 
examined his tracing closely and compared it with old notes and 
surveys and believe it to be as nearly correct as can be made at 
this date. 

The next house built on this trail was John Chancellor's on the 
west half of the northwest quarter of section 7T. ION. R. 13W., 
A. D. 1829 on the west side of the North Fork of the Embarras 
river on the second bottom near the ford and about one-half a mile 
above the present iron bridge across said stream on the United 
States road as it is called in the field notes of aforesaid road filed 
in the war department. There was no Martinsville in 1830, no 
Marshall, no Auburn, no Casey, no Greenup, no Grandview, no 
Charleston, no Mattoon, no Coles county, no McLansford, or 
Blake's Mill ford. There were no houses nearer John Chancellor's 
than George Parker's on the east half of the southwest quarter of 



THE LINCOLN WAY 43 

section 31 T. 12 N. R. 14 W., about two and a third or three miles 
north of this old Indian trail and twelve miles away. There were 
no stage lines or state roads or any other roads, but there were 
several tribes of Indians along the North Fork until the year 1832 
when the agents of United States removed them taking this old 
'trail to the northwest. As there were no roads at that date 
(1830) you had to follow the trails to be sure of getting anywhere. 
You will note the Harrison boundary line through the east part 
of the county. All the lands east of this line were surveyed some 
three to five years before those west of said line. When General 
W. H. Harrison made a treaty with the Piankashaw Indians this 
line was established giving a broad strip of land reaching east 
across the state of Indiana to the Grouse land purchase. (See 
maps accompanjang reports of J. Butterfield, commissioner to 
the Hon. T. R. Ewing, secretary of the interior department, Novem- 
ber 1849.) This treaty required the Indians to vacate all the 
lands east of this line on or before 1830, but United States did 
not move them from the North Fork until 1832, when they took 
the old trail to the northwest. 

********** 

John F. Lafferty 

P. S. I will try and get vou the entry record this week. 

J. F. L. 

Affidavit of Abram Harrison 

West Union, Clark County, Illinois 

December 11, 1912 

To THE Lincoln Way Commission of Illinois, 

I, Abram Harrison, a resident of York township, West Union, 
Clark county, Illinois, aged seventy-two years, have always re- 
sided all my life in this township. That I was well acquainted 
with Aaron Ball, deceased, an old resident of the town of York, 
Clark county, Illinois, and that about the years 1856 and 1858, 
his son Pemberton got into trouble out about Decatur or Spring- 
field, Illinois, and they took his friends Richard Falley, a citizen 
of York, and. also R. P. Ober, a merchant and a prominent 



44 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

citizen of the town of York, and went to the trial; and that 
Mr. Ball got Abraham Lincoln, then a lawyer, to attend to his 
case thereby forming a close friendship with him. That when 
he told of being from York, Illinois, Mr. Lincoln informed him 
that as he came to Illinois, he passed by the town and on up 
north and then west to his home in Illinois. Mr. Ball informed' 
me that he passed up through our neighborhood by the old road 
near our place and on to north and west of Colonel W. B. Archer's 
farm and on north and west on the old trail road out by Anglin's 
grove and on north from there into Illinois. He and Colonel W. 
B. Archer agreed that he had told each about the route and that 
the Lincolns had come by the way of Vincennes, Indiana, across 
the Wabash river at Vincennes north and up the river via Rus- 
sell ville, Palestine, Hutsonviile, and York and thence out via or 
near the old Harrison and W. B. Archer farms, and by the Samuel 
Handy Brook's lane and thence north and then north and west. 
He understood that he passed from York up to and via the grave- 
yard to Sam Lacey's, Brooks, and Handy lane via old Fort 
Handy, on up past John and Stephen Handy's and thence west 
and north and up by the prairie route to Grand View, Illinois, in 
Edgar county, Illinois, and stopped there a few days. Most of the 
people in the compan}^ stopped and settled in Edgar county and 
the Lincoln and Johnstone families went on farther north and 
west into Piatt county, or Moultrie county, and stayed there two 
years and then moved south to south side of Coles county, where 
they settled. 



Affidavit of Abram Harrison 

West Union, Clark County, Illinois 
December 11, 1912 

As per request of the commission of the Lincoln Way, I will say 
that the statement I make I will verify — that I, Abram Harrison, 
of West Union, Clark county, Illinois, am seventy-two years of 
age, was born and always lived in this York township, Clark 
county, Illinois, and that Colonel William B. Archer of Clark 



THE LINCOLN WAY 45 

county, on an adjoining farm near our own, and I often talked 
about matters and things; and he was a prominent man in this 
neighborhood and a member of the state legislature, county clerk 
of Clark county, and informed me that he well knew and was 
acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, our lamented martyred presi- 
dent ; and he informed me that when he emigrated from Kentucky, 
Indiana, to Illinois that he passed through our immediate neigh- 
borhood and that he came into the state at Vincennes, Indiana, 
and crossed the Wabash river to Russellville, Illinois, thence Pal- 
estine, Hutsonville, York, and out by his home and ours, the old 
Henry Harrison farms east of Mr. Archer's farm, and on out the 
old road north and west into Illinois — the old trail road known 
as the old Indian trail — northwest; and that Lincoln so informed 
him at different times about his having passed through the 
county (Clark), and that he returned later, he and his father 
Thomas Lincoln, to York township north of York and bought 
seed and feed corn of George W. Catron on Walnut prairie on 
the farm now owned by J. S. Mundy and son. 



Affidavit of Abram Harrison 

West Union, Clark County, Illinois 

December 11, 1912 
To THE Commission of the Lincoln Way: 

Per request will say that I, Abram Harrison, aged seventy-two, 
a resident of West Union, York township, Clark county, Illinois, 
that I have always resided in this township, and that I was well 
acquainted with Richard Falley, an early settler of this township 
of York, now deceased, and that he informed me that he went 
with Aaron Ball out in Illinois, to Pemberton Ball's trial for Mr. 
Ball as witness in 1856 or 1858 or thereabout. That Abraham 
Lincoln was the attorney in the case and that he there formed the 
acquaintance of Lincoln and that he informed me that when in- 
formed that he lived at York, Illinois, he — Lincoln — told him that 
he knew the town as he had passed it on his way moving from 
Indiana to Illinois; that he came via Vincennes, north up the 
Wabash river via Russellville, Palestine, Hutsonville, and York 



46 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

and on up by Brooks's, Lacey's, and Sam Handy's and north 
and west on the old trail road that passed near Fort Handy, 
John Handy's and then west and north along the old Indian trail 
route north and west out to Dolson prairie and north up into Illi- 
nois, to Grand View, Illinois, where most of the movers stopped 
and settled in Edgar county, Illinois. The Lincoln and Johnston 
families went on north and west up farther into Illinois, where 
they stayed about two years or made two crops, or tried to make 
them but the wet weather drowned them out, when they moved 
south into Coles county, and settled there; and that he later went 
or came over into the south part of Clark county, to get seed 
corn ; he got his corn of G. W. Catron on Walnut prairie and went 
probably via Greenup, Casey, Martinsville, West Union and 
returned by same route. 



Affidavit of Abram Harrison 

West Union, Illinois, December 12, 1912 

To THE Lincoln Way Commission or Whom it May Concern: 

That I, Abram Harrison, seventy-two years of age and a resident 
of West Union, Clark county, Illinois, say that I was well acquainted 
with Major Robert Lacey, deceased, who was an old settler of 
York township, Clark county, Illinois, and lived and was raised 
one-half mile south of Fort Handy, and he has told me at different 
times that the Shaws, Albert and Gilliad, and William B. Archer, 
an old resident of this neighborhood, and all acquainted with 
Abraham Lincoln in his lifetime and that Mr. Lincoln told them 
(so they informed me) that the Lincolns — Thomas and Abraham 
— came through the southeast corner of Clark county, passed 
York and on up to Fort Handy, thence on north and west over 
the old trail road or near it on west and north into Illinois when 
they moved from Kentucky, Indiana, to Illinois, when they first 
came to the state of Illinois. Now Samuel Lacey, ex-sheriff of 
Clark county, and brother of Robert Lacey, also told me at dif- 
ferent times the same story of the Lincoln family's route to 
Illinois. 



THE LINCOLN WAY 47 

I certify this narrative is by good tradition but is correct as I 
verily believe, and being sworn to the same so declare under oath. 

A. Harrison 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 23d day of December, 
1912. 

Russell Poorman 

Notary Public 



Letter of Abram Harrison 

West Union, Illinois, July 27, 1913 
Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 
Champaign, Illinois. 

My dear Mr. Thompson: 

Yours of the 22d inst. is at hand and I make this reply. The 
old Indian trail leads off in a north to northwest direction. I send 
you a rough sketch of a map I made to describe the place of the 
old Henry Harrison residence, also William B. Archer's residence 
west of it on the line of the old trail. The trail divides and runs 
northwest on both the north and south side of a branch to a short 
distance north of the Harrison residence, when they come together 
again as I show you by map. 

Respectfully, 

A. Harrison 



Statement of Hon. H. C. Bell 

[From the Marshall (Illinois) Herald, November 27, 1912] 

Washington, D. C, November 23, 1912 

I notice in one of the Marshall papers that Charles M. Thomp- 
son of the University of Illinois has just completed a map of the 
"Lincoln Way" in which he claims that the Lincoln caravan cross- 
ed the Wabash river at Vincennes, traveled the St. Louis stage 



48 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

road to Lawrenceville, thence north through Palestine, York and 
Darwin, to Paris, etc.^ 

This has not been my idea of the route gathered from statements 
made by Colonel William B. Archer, Henry Harrison, Robert 
Lacy, Samuel Lacy, Chester Handy, and others who knew more 
about this ' ' Lincoln Way ' ' than any other men ever knew or will 
ever know, in all probability, because some of them, as well as some 
of the elder generation of Shaws actually saw the Lincoln caravan 
passing, and talking to Lincoln himself about this very matter 
at one time when in Marshall, and also on another occasion when 
he returned to York township, in his early manhood, or boyhood 
rather, for the purpose of buying seed corn, and who actually did 
buy it of farmers living in this vicinity, of the old Mat tie Brown, 
Joe Cork, and Jim Mundy farms of lower Walnut Prairie. 

William B. Archer, Sam Lacy, Robert Lacy, Henry Harrison, 
Chester Handy and other early settlers and residents of Clark 
county, as well as the elder Shaws often talked about this matter 
and they were perfectly conversant with the real route that the 
Lincoln caravan took in its passage through Clark county. Among 
the living residents of Clark county, himself, a surveyor, and with 
an extensive and accurate knowledge of early roads and Indian 
trails through Clark county, and the nephew of Henry Harrison 
and with long access to the field notes, etc., of his uncle Henry 
Harrison and there may possibly be others living who often talked 
with most of the men above inentioned and with others on this 
very subject of "The Lincoln Way," is Abe Harrison of York 
township and from what they have all said, and what Abe says 
now, this Lincoln Way never touched Darwin or Marshall, nor is 
it certain, or indeed likely that it ever passed through York. 

According to the best information to be had, and from men like 
vSam Lacy, who never forgot anything he ever knew, William B. 
Archer, Henry Harrison, Robert Lacy, Chester Handy, the elder 
Shaws and Abe Harrison himself, the Lincoln caravan, which con- 
sisted of a number of Lincolns, Hanks, and other families, did 
cross the Wabash at Vincennes, thence to Lawrenceville up along 
the old Indian river trail to Russellville, through Palestine and 
Hutsonville, and thence on up to the Musgrave place in Crawford 

' Mr. Bell appears to have been misinformed about the map. 



THE LINCOLN WAY 49 

county. It is not clear whether the caravan then passed through 
the Raccoon creek bottoms, by the lower road, as it is called and 
through York, or whether it kept on upon high grounds past the 
old Henry Holliday place and across the creek somewhere between 
the now Big Four railroad bridge and the place where the iron 
bridge spans Raccoon creek near the old Henry Holliday, Bill 
Lindley, John Lindley farms; but inasmuch as the Lincoln caravan 
reached the Musgrave place where the road between Hutsonville 
and York forks, in the early spring or in IVIarch when Raccoon 
creek was then most always high, and when it would have been dif- 
ficult to get to York by the lower road, as it is called, it probably 
went either around by the Holliday place or crossed the creek near 
the Big Four railroad bridge, as it now is and then crossed the Aimes 
branch near the big spring where it would have been handy and 
convenient to pitch camp for the night, and on to the high dry 
ridge on the lands now owned by Dr. Cullop of West York, and 
keeping still on high and dry land and still pursuing the old In- 
dian trail, the only sort of roads in those early days, on through 
the old Bradbury, Henry Prevo, Jonathan Hogue farms, the latter 
now owned by Samuel C. Prevo, and scill on, not through York, 
necessarily, but on through the farms now owned by Robert 
Mitchell and Jim Mitchell, or the old Henry Prevo farm, and 
on through the home lands of Sam and Bob Lacy, and who, as 
I remember, actually knew of the passage of the Lincoln cara- 
van through these parts of Clark county and thence turning 
in a north westernly direction, still pursuing the old Indian trail 
which was said to have traversed a hundred miles from Vincennes 
to Grandview, in Edgar county, where the Lincolns tarried for 
awhile without ever having to go over but one or two hills, one 
of themx at the old Alf Cowden farm near the church, Potter Hall, 
I believe it is called. 

Not only did the parties above mentioned tell Henry Harrison 
that the road ran along the route indicated above, buc Henry Harri- 
son told his nephew Abe Harrison often, that John Ketchum, 
Aaron Ball, Richard Falley, Robert P. Ober, all old residents of 
York, and others told him, Henry Harrison, that the way I have 
indicated was the real "Lincoln Way" through York township, 
and one of them remembered of its actually passing through the 



50 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

site where York now stands, though some of the Lincoln cara- 
van people probably did drift into York to get supplies for 
themselves and stock. Aaron Ball well knew Lincoln, in fact 
Lincoln defended Pemberton Ball, the son of Aaron Ball, for some- 
thing he had done and Aaron Ball, nor whom no better or honester 
man ever lived, well knew Lincoln, having to consult him about 
the trouble of his son "Pem" as he was familiarly called and he 
told Henry Harrison that he talked with Lincoln about his route 
through Clark county and what route he took after leaving 
either York or its vicinity, and from the understanding of Mr. 
Ball, as well as by that of all the men above indicated, the 
"Lincoln Way " never passed through either Darwin nor Marshall, 
and it is not certain that it passed even through York, though it 
did certainly pass through it or half a mile west of the present site 
of that ancient village of the Wabash valley. 

On this journey of the Lincolns from Kentucky to Grandview, 
and perhaps on to Charleston, and in about two years back to a 
place just south of the Cumberland county line called Goose Nest, 
not "Goose Neck" prairie, where the Lincolns settled, and it was 
from this point that Abe journeyed to Walnut Prairie to buy 
seed corn sometime afterwards, and where Abe bought corn of 
George W. Catron, off the farm as is understood now owned by 
Jim Mundy. This old Indian trail that Lincoln and his associate 
emigrants to the rich lands of Illinois, journeyed as it is believed 
passed near the old Hogue place where the writer as a bare footed 
boy dragged himself reluctantly, persuaded along by the sharp 
cutting hazel switch his fond mother wielded in the long, long 
ago. It crossed the spot along the line of where the Big Four 
railroad now runs on the lands I think now owned by my old 
boyhood and manhood friend, Jim Prevo; thence north, through 
the old Henry Harrison lands ; through the land now owned by the 
Crow boys; then through the old Billy Archer lands now owned 
by the Bartlett's; thence on up past the old Alf Cowden farm and 
on to where Darien now stands, and thence in a northeasterly 
direction to Grandview, where the Johnson, O'Hair and a few other 
families stopped. 

On this trip, the Lincolns had two wagons, one drawn by an ox 
team driven by young Abe, and the other driven by Abe's father, 



THE LINCOLN WAY ■ 51 

and so this is the general route which the "Lincoln Way" dragged 
its weary way along in those far off and hazy times of the fast fading 
past as stated by such men as Sam and Robert Lacy, Aaron Ball, 
Richard Falley, Robert Ober, Henry Harrison, William B. Archer, 
Chester Handy and now by Abe Harrison who had his information 
from these men, who is himself a surveyor and a perfect mine of 
old road and Indian trail lore and who is firm in the belief that the 
"Lincoln Way" as it is called did not touch Darwin or Marshall 
and probably not even York closer than half a mile, the old 
Reason Bell farm now owned by Robert and Jim Nicol. And so 
we believe that Professor Charles M. Thompson of the University 
of Illinois, in his just completed map of the far famed "Lincoln 
Way " is off in his location of the route the Lincolns took in passing 
through Clark county, as it now is, and as for me, I would rather 
have the intimate and first hand information of such men as I 
have named who either lived in the vicinity of the old Indian trail 
route the Lincolns took and traveled in their passage from Vin- 
cennes and especially through Clark county, where they then 
lived or else had obtained it first hand from those who knew to a 
certainty to the Lincolns' final stopping place, at least for some 
years, on Goose Nest Prairie, Cumberland county, Illinois, supple- 
mented by the varied and accurate road knowledge of Abe Harri- 
son, than to take the word of the noted professor in his aforesaid 
map, and I firmly believe that the one I have named was, in the 
main the route the Lincolns took in their journey from Vincennes 
to Lawrenceville, Russell ville, Palestine, Hutsonville, west of 
York, out by Alf Cowden place, and on to Darien up to Grand- 
view, where part of the caravan halted forever more, and on to 
Charleston, and finally back to Goose Nest Prairie where the 
Lincolns finally unshipped their freight, where Uncle Abe unyoked 
his steers and settled down to prepare himself, at least partially 
for the presidency, the emancipation of a race and his final exit 
to immortal fame through the gateway of life, opened for him by 
the pistol shot of a dastardly assassin on the fourteenth of April, 
1865, at Ford's theatre in this city.^ 

H. C. Bell 

1 It seems unnecessary to point out a number of misstatements of histori- 
cal facts in the preceding article, for they have no bearing whatever on the 
investigation. 



52 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

Affidavit of James Bennett 
State of Illinois, 



ss 
Crawford County 

West York, Illinois, August 12, 1913 

I was born in Crawford county, Illinois, near the present town 
of West York, in 1822, and have been a resident of this section 
nearly all my life. I was acquainted with the early roads and 
trails of Clark and Crawford counties, and have heard the older 
people of this neighborhood talk of the Lincolns going through 
here on their journey from Gentryville, Indiana, to Decatur, Illi- 
nois, in 1830, I myself being at that time eight years of age. 

James Bennett 
Witness 

Emma Knight 

Charles W. Moore 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of August, 
1913. 

Charles W. Moore 

Notary Public 

APPENDIX G 

Letter of Joseph A. Hall 

Janesville, Illinois, January 9, 1913 
Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 
Champaign, Illinois. 

My dear Mr. Thompson: 

Your letter of the 7 th at hand and was very glad to hear from 
you. My father said that they came through Palestine and that 
they followed an old Indian trail northwest from there, as there 
were no main roads as there are today, as they had to pick their 
way as best they could. Dennis Hanks often visited my father 
here at the old cabin and stayed as long as a month at a time, 
and I have heard them both talk about how they came and what 
a time they had on the road and they both agreed that they 



THE LINCOLN WAY 53 

came through Palestine in the direction I have mentioned. My 
father said: "Dennis, don't you mind when we crossed Hurri- 
cane how we all like to got drowned?" I have also heard my 
father and Dennis Hanks both say that there was a deer lick 
near the farm, that night overtook them, and they camped over 
night. My father said that they camped at Muddy Point near 
the little town of Paradise and that they stopped with a family 
named Radley. My father said his name was Ichabod Radley. 
The bridge that Dennis Hanks worked on was built across the 
Embarras river at the McCann's ford. I never heard my father 
or uncle Dennis Hanks speak of a family by the name of Harrison. 
I have heard my father say that they traveled north through the 
western edge of what is now Mattoon, that they could have entered 
land where Mattoon is now for $1.25 an acre but it was so low and 
swampy that nobody could live there. 

Yours truly, 

Joseph A. Hall 

APPENDIX H 

Letter of Second Assistant Postmaster General 

January 20, 1913 
Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 

509 East Springfield Avenue, 
Champaign, Illinois. 
Sir: 

Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of the 7th instant, re- 
questing further information concerning the early mail routes in 
eastern Illinois in order to enable you to determine the route taken 
by the Lincoln family in removing from Indiana to Illinois in 1830. 

In reply I have to inform you that the records of this office indi- 
cate that the contract on route no. 71: Vandalia, Cold Spring, 
Shelby ville. Locust Grove, Cochran's Grove, Paradise (Hanson's), 
Cole C. H. (Morton's store). Bachelors ville and Sutherland, to 
Paris (Edgar county), Illinois, was for service commencing 
January 1, 1830. It appears, however, that a postofhce was 
established at Coles Court House in Coles county, March 31, 1831. 



54 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

It cannot be determined at what point the Wabash river was 
crossed by route no. 74: Vincennes, Indiana, Palestine (Craw- 
ford county), Hutsonville, York, Clark C. H. (Darwin), Lexing- 
ton, Paris, Ono or Union, Bloomfield, Carolus, and Georgetown to 
Danville, Illinois. There does not appear to have been any route 
to Decatur from Springfield and Shelbyville. The only route to 
Decatur in operation in 1830 was route no. 83: Decatur (Macon 
county) Randolph's Grove, Bloomington, O'Hara and Chestnut 
to Chicago. 

Very respectfully, 

Joseph Stewart 
Second Assistant Postmaster General 



APPENDIX I 

Affidavit of Lewis E. Moore 

I, Lewis E. Moore of Janesville, Illinois, was bom in the year 
1840 about three-fourths of a mile northeast of what is known as 
the Abraham Lincoln log cabin in Coles county, Illinois, which 
was situated two and one-half miles northeast of Janesville, Illinois. 
I personally knew Thomas Lincoln and his last wife. I also knew 
Abraham Lincoln and I also lived within one-half mile of Thomas 
Lincoln all the time he lived on the said Lincoln farm, two and 
one-half miles northeast of Janesville, and went to the graveyard 
when Thomas Lincoln was buried and have heard him tell of his 
early days and travels and from the best of my judgment as I 
now remember from all that he told me, he crossed the Ambraw 
river on coming to this county from Indiana at what is known as 
the McCann's ford, just about one-half a mile north of due east 
of the Lincoln farm. 

L. E. Moore 

J. A. SCHOMMER, 

Witness Notary Public 

J. D. Martin 
Abe L. Hall 
W. J. Moore 



THE LINCOLN WAY 55 

APPENDIX J 

Statement of D. T. Gordon 

The Lincoln Way from Indiana to Illinois crossed the Wabash 
river at Vincennes, Indiana, then taking the Cincinnati and St. 
Louis plank road to Lawrenceville, Illinois, recrossed the Em- 
barras river at a ford four miles northwest of Lawrenceville at a 
place called Sharletsville. Thence near Hen Peck [?J or now Ob- 
long, Crawford coimty, thence to Long Point, thence near Union 
Center, Cumberland county, thence to the Embarras river at the 
McCann's ford, thence by the Gordon graveyard where both my 
grandfathers lived at that time. Grandfather Gordon and Grand- 
father Barham, thence to Paradise on the Little Wabash river. 
My father was in Captain Abe Lincoln's company during the Black 
Hawk Indian war and I have heard my father tell this story many 
times. My grandfathers came to Coles county in 1823, were the 
first white settlers in what is Goosenest Prairie and my father 
was the first white man married in the detached part of Clark 
county where the county seat was at Darwin on the Wabash 
river. My grandfather Gordon gave the land that is known as 
the Gordon graveyard where Thomas Lincoln is buried; this I 
know by hearing my father Patrick H. Gordon tell it. 

Signed, sealed and delivered this the 15th day of February, 1913. 

D. T. Gordon 
Age 68 years 

APPENDIX K 

Notes from County Commissioners Court Records, 
Coles County, Illinois 
Paradise was a postoffice in 1830 located at the house of George 
Hansen who lived on the state road from Paris to Shelbyville. 
(See Appendix H.) In August, 1836 Paradise was laid out in sec- 
tion 33, T.12N.R. HE., on state road running from Charleston 
to Shelbyville. Later this site was abandoned and is now farm 
land. In February, 1837, another town called Paradise was laid 
out in section 8,T.11N.R.11E. The latter is the location of the 
present Paradise. See plat book in circuit clerk's office, Charles- 
ton, Illinois. 



56 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

APPENDIX L 
Notes on the Cumberland Road 

Contracts made during September and October, 1830 for open- 
ing the Cumberland road in Illinois. 21 Congress, 2 session, house 
of representatives, executive documents, 3: doc. 73. 

"At the time operations were first commenced on the Cumber- 
land Road in Illinois, there was, from the state line to Vandalia, 
but a single house on the road, and that was near the eastern 
extremity." 23 Congress, 1 session, house of representatives, 
executive documents, 5: doc. 417. 

APPENDIX M 

Statement of Hannah E. Allison 

Lerna, Illinois, January 11, 1913 
Mrs. Hannah Eveline Allison born at Farmington, Bedford 
county, Tennessee, in 1822; moved to Illinois in 1834, first stopped 
at Muddy Point. The road across the McCann's ford I saw in the 
winter of 1834 and it came west, then south, then west, then north, 
then angled across northwest to Muddy Point out to Paradise. 

Hannah E. Allison 

Affidavit of Joseph Armstrong 

Janesville, Illinois, December 16, 1912 
I, Joseph Armstrong, of Charleston, Illinois, was born in High- 
land county, Virginia, August 11, 1823 and came to Coles county, 
Illinois, in 1844, and have lived within four miles of the Lincoln 
homestead ever since, and personally knew Abraham Lincoln and 
Thomas Lincoln, and Thomas Lincoln's last wife, Sarah Bush, 
and was at Thomas Lincoln's funeral, which was preached by 
John Adams, a Methodist minister. I have seen Abraham Lin- 
coln on different trips to the homestead, as many as four different 
times; I helped build a bridge across the Ambraw river at the 



THE LINCOLN WAY 57 

McCann's ford in 1846 and there was a crossing at the McCann's 
ford for a number of years previous to this time which was the 
main place to cross the river at that time, and the road at that 
place east of the river after winding around some ran in a southeast 
direction. There was a postoffice at Campbell, when I first came 
to this country and had been there I understand a number of 
years before. The postmaster was Eugene Campbell, who kept 
the postoffice at the edge of what was called goosenest prairie, 
a scope of country about three or four miles square, adjacent to 
the Lincoln homestead. The contractors I worked for in build- 
ing the bridge across the river at McCann's ford were Gilpin and 
Leach. 

Joseph Arjvistrong 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 17th da}^ of Decem- 
ber 1912. 

George Gordon 
Notary PubHc 

Affidavit of John W. Rodgers 

Janesville, Illinois, December 3, 1912 
I, John W. Rodgers of Lema, Illinois, was born in 1832 in San- 
gamon coimty, Illinois, and came to Coles county, Illinois, the 
same year. I was personally acquainted with Thomas Lincoln 
and his last wife, and also acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, 
and also knew when Thomas Lincoln lived on what is known 
as the Lincoln farm two and a half miles northeast of Janesville, 
Illinois. I further know that John McCann, an early settler, lived 
about forty rods east of what is known as the McCann's ford 
and from whom the ford took its name and said McCann was 
Hving there even before and while Thomas Lincoln lived on the 
above named farm. 

John W. Rodgers 

Subscribed to and sworn to before on this the 3d dav of Decem- 
ber, 1912. 

George Gordon 
Notary Public 



58 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

Statement of Jessie Phipps 

Janesville, Illinois, January 14, I91J 
I, Jessie Phipps, was born in the year 1833 in Marion county, 
Ohio, and came to IlHnois in 1840 to Coles county, and have lived 
sometimes nearer, and never to exceed three miles from the 
Lincoln homestead ever since. And the first road, and the main 
traveled road I ever knew running froin the McCann's ford was in 
a westerly direction to about one mile, and thence south one-half 
mile, thence west by the Lincoln hom^estead, thence intersecting 
the Charleston and Greenup road just west of the Lincoln home- 
stead, thence north to the north edge of Farmington, thence west 
to about two and one-half miles, thence north one-half mile, 
thence west intersecting the Paradise road. 

Jessie Phipps 



Statement of L. E. Moore 

Janesville, Illinois, January 10, 1913 
I, L. E. Moore, was bom in 1840 in a cabin right by the side of 
the road that ran from McCann's ford to the Lincoln homestead and 
said road then ran practically the same as it does now with proba- 
bly one very small angle and ran by the Lincoln homestead and to 
the west side of the farm and then near that point ran northwest 
by the Gordon cemetery, ran on west. 

L. E. Moore 
Witness 

J. D. Martin 
A. L. Hall 



APPENDIX N 

Notes from County Commissioners Court Records, 
Coles County, Illinois 

"David Dryden and others presented a petition praying a view 
of a county road, commencing on the Clark County line at the 
head of long point creek on a path now used, thence west to 



THE LINCOLN WAY 59 

Embarras River at what is called Logans ford near where John 
McCann now lives thence through Goosenest prairie, near Indian 
creek, thence the nearest and best road to Shelby County line in a 
direction to Shelby^nlle." 

APPENDIX O 

Affidavit of John W. Cain 

Janesville, Illinois, December 16, 1912 
I, John W. Cain of Charleston, Illinois, was born in the year 
1840, in Monroe county, Indiana, and came to Coles county, 
Illinois, in the year 1865, August 2d, and have lived within ten 
miles of the Lincoln homestead, every year since I came here, 
with the exception of one year, and the majority of that time, 
have lived within four miles of the Lincoln homestead, and for 
twenty years lived within one and one-half miles of the Lincoln 
homestead in Coles county, Illinois, and I also have been ac- 
quainted with, and associated as a particular friend with John J. 
Hall for forty years before he died, April 4, 1909, he being one of 
the party that came over with the Lincolns, and I swear on oath 
that I heard John J. Hall say that on crossing the Hurricane, a 
stream southeast of here a short way, that on coming from Indi- 
ana, the wagon mired down in this stream and that they had 
quite a cime crossing the same which is located southeast of said 
Lincoln homestead. 

John W. Cain 

Signed and sworn to this the 17th day of December 1912. 

George Gordon 
Notar}^ PubHc 

APPENDIX P 

Affidavit of Robert Francis 
State of Illinois, 



ss 
County of Clark 



This the 28th day of December, A. D. 1912, personally appeared 
before the undersigned, a notary public in and for said county and 



60 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

state, Robert Francis, a resident of Martinsville, Illinois, who being 
duly sworn on oath states as follows : 

That he was bom in England in 1832 and came to this country 
in 1837, and has lived in this county over seventy years. That, to 
the best of his knowledge and belief, in March, 1863 he was on his 
way from Martinsville to Charleston, traveling on foot on the old 
York and Charleston road; that when between what was known as 
the Rev. Lee place and the Round Grove, he was overtaken by a 
man in a wagon, who on learning that he was on his way to Charles- 
ton, invited him to ride. In the conversation that followed the 
name of Abraham Lincoln was brought up in connection with the 
Lincoln-Douglas debate at Charleston. The man said that he had 
seen Thomas and Abe Lincoln near that place, when thc}^ moved 
from Indiana to Illinois, and that he could show him where they 
camped near what was then known as the blue mound; that 
he was there watching for deer when the Lincoln caravan drove 
up and camped for the night ; that he talked with Thomas Lincoln 
for about an hour asking him his name and giving his, and that 
during the conversation he noticed Abe Lincoln, whom he judged 
at the time to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, as he 
busied himself about the camp work, and remarking his awkward 
and uncouth appearance, which was recalled to his mind in later 
years, on hearing Lincoln plead law. 

And affiant further states that this blue mound was on the left 
of both the then traveled wagon road and the old Indian trail, 
and was northwest of what is now known as the round grove in 
section 29, Parker township, Clark county, Illinois, and that 
they stood up in the wagon to see better when the man pointed 
out the Lincoln camping place. 

Robert Francis 
Witness 

H. Gasaway 

James W. McNary 

E. S. Clayton 

vSubscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of December, 
A. D. 1912. 

H. Gasaway 
Notary Public 



THE LINCOLN WAY 61 

APPENDIX Q 

Extracts from State Laws 

County roads leading from Wabash river, opposite Vincennes 
through Lawrence, Crawford, Clark, Edgar and VermiHon counties 
to Danville are declared state roads. Road passing through AlH- 
son Prairie, called the Christian Settlement, and from thence to 
Palestine declared part of state road. Revised code of 1829, p. 133. 

Extract from the Missouri Republican, July 3, 1822 

Mail went by Ellison (AlHson) Prairie, Palestine, York, Aurora, 
Grand Prairie, in Clark county to Clinton. 

Notes from County Commissioners Court Records of 
Lawrence County, Illinois 

Ferry across Embarras river at Lawrenceville — north and south 
— established June, 1825. 

Ferry at Yellow Banks by Nabb and Fail authorized June, 1825. 

Ferry established at Vincennes, September, 1825. 

March, 1830. Henry Du Bois presented petition to change 
road from Vincennes (opposite Vincennes) to Palestine. Peti- 
tion reads as follows: 

"Commencing | mile above stream mill in T. & D. Harrison's 
land then running nearly on the bank of the Wabash River to the 
house of Littleton Timm's, thence to the farm of Mr. Cockran 
thence to mouth of Bell Grove; to farm of Dr. Keykendall where 
it will intersect Palestine Road." 

APPENDIX R 

Notes from County Commissioners Court Records of 
Coles County 

In March, 1831 Ichabod Radley lived in Wabash precinct, which 
included the Paradise settlement, sometimes called the Wabash 
Point settlement. 



62 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

APPENDIX S 
Letter of James A. Steele 

Sullivan, Illinois, November 12th, 1914 
Charles M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
Dear Sir: 

In reply to yours of the 9th re the Lincoln road through Moul- 
trie county, will say that I have seen Mr. James Purvis, who is our 
oldest resident in chis vicinity, and he has prepared a map of the 
first road through here which is undoubtedly the one we want. I 
send you this map under separate cover. 

The road entered Moultrie county from Coles county near the Jim 
Elder postoffice, then across the Kaskaskia, or Okaw as it is called 
here, where there was a ford called Willow ford near what is now 
known as Spaugh bridge, then to Julia Ann tavern, from there to 
what is now Chipps station on the C. & E. I. R. R. where there 
was, and still is, a good spring which was then a favorite camping 
place on this road. From there it went to the Black Horse tavern 
in Lovington, thence west to a point south of Decatur thus entering 
Decatur from the south but Mr. Purvis is not familiar with that 
part of the route. 

The west branch of the Kaskaskia, where they would cross it 
between Lovington and Decatur, is not much more than a small 
creek and would afford no serious obstacle to their passage. 

Mr. Purvis told me this morning that he thought you might get 
some further information from Robert Bracken of Cherrie Vale, 
Kansas, who was born near here. 

Hoping this may throw some light on the topic in which we are 
all interested I am 

Respectfiilly yours, 

James A. Steele 



. THE LINCOLN WAY 63 

APPENDIX T 
Extract from Letter of Judge J. O. Cunningham 

Urbana, Illinois, October 30, 1911 
Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 
Champaign, Illinois 
My dear Sir: 

Yours asking for Mr. Lincoln's remarks "about having come 
through Decatur on their way to Macon County," is before me. 

Major Henry C. Whitney in his "Life on the Circuit with Lin- 
coln" alludes to this visit to Decatur and quotes his recollections 
of what Mr. Lincoln said upon that occasion, using these words: 
"After supper we strolled out for a walk and when we came to the 
court house Lincoln walked out a few steps in front and after 
shifting his position two or three times he said, as he looked up at 
the building, partly to himself and partly to me, "Here is the exact 
spot where I stood by our wagon when we moved from Indiana 
twenty-six years ago; this isn't six feet from the exact spot." He 
said further to me, "We came into town and kept on and made our 
first stop right in front of the court house, where we now are." 

He then told me he had frequently thereafter tried to locate the 
route by which they had come ; and that he had decided that it was 
near the line of the main line of the Illinois Central railroad. 

My recollection of the event is about as Major Whitney has here 
given it. Although he in his account of the Decatur visit has 
ignored the presence in the company of any but himself and Lin- 
coln, there were in fact several of us. 

In my paper read before the state historical society at the 
annual meeting in January, 1905, on page 104 of our publication 
no. 10, in treating of the Bloomington convention of 1856, I speak 
at large of this visit to Decatur and of the persons with Mr. Lin- 
coln. 

Yours, 
J. 0. Cunningham 



64 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

APPENDIX U 

Extract from the Charleston Daily News, 
September 12, 1912 

The Daily News has been asked where and how the Lincoln- 
Hanks people came from Indiana to IlHnois. It is certain they 
came in the spring of 1831 by going to Vincennes, then to Lawrence- 
ville and started for Vandalia, going in what we would now call 
the Cumberland Road at Ewington. They went to Vandalia, 
and there they called on William Lee D. Ewing, asking for the 
Radleys in Coles County, and John Hanks, somewhere up in the 
"Sangamaw" country. Ewing seemed to have known the 
Hanks and Lincolns in Kentucky but while the writer asked 
Dennis Hanks how they happened to know Ewing, the answer 
was lost by an interruption. 

Ewing was either a state senator or something like that at the 
time and he seemed to know where Hanks and Radley lived, for 
he explained that while there was a bridge across the Kaskaskia 
or Okaw river at Vandalia, there were no bridges up on the 
Decatur branch of the Sangamon river. That they would have 
to back track to Ewington, which seemed to be a town Ewing was, 
interested in, and then they should go northeast on the bracks [?]; 
between the Kaskaskia Little Wabash and Embarras rivers, which 
passed through Coles county, and go to Paradise, where Radley 
was running for coroner in the new county of Coles, the election 
being in August. They went there and stayed between spring 
and fall and then went to John Hanks' clearing in Macon county. 
That they crossed the Kaskaskia or Okaw either at Cooks Mills 
on the Charleston and Springfield trace, or at Bagdad on the 
Paris and Springfield trace which join northwest and it was 
thought there was where a mighty city would be located, but 
not so. 

Thomas Lincoln and wife lived near the John Hanks vicinity 
that winter of 1831-32 and then went back to Paradise as they 
had the ague and wanted to go back to Indiana but could not 
raise the money. 

Abraham Lincoln was of age and stayed with John Hanks and 
never lived in Coles county. The "calvacade" never went to 
Springfield. 



THE LINCOLN WAY 65 

The Lincolns except Abraham, and the Johnstons and Hanks 
except John settled in Coles and hundreds and hundreds of their 
descendants live in Coles to this date. 

These are the facts about "Marking the Lincoln Way," which 
was the most egregious fake ever touted in any country. And, yet, 
there must be salaries, you must know. — ^J. K. Rardin, Charleston, 
September 10, 1912. 



Extract from the Charleston Daily News, 
November 29, 1912 

The alleged professor in Champaign who is talking about the 
Lincoln Way is a fool. Again, and again, the Lincolns did not go 
to Vincennes, but to Mt. Carmel. They never crossed the Em- 
barras at all, but having meagre horse sense they never crossed 
the Little Wabash till they got near the source about Ewington. 
They never went to Paris because there was no national road at 
that time and the county seat was near Martinsville. The near- 
est government land was at Palestine, and the road went as near 
as possible to Charleston where everybody walked or rode horse- 
back to Palestine and it took two days, as any old settler yet living 
can tell you, and the records and affidavits say so. The old Coles 
County History tells so and gives the old settlers and man^^ histories 
of them telling how they came and entered. 

Nobody was such a fool as to go northeast to Paris from Pales- 
tine and then go southeast, losing about 30 miles out of the way, 
when it was but 25 miles on the York and Charleston road which 
was a freight trail to the nearest point on the Wabash river. 

Besides, all the Lincolns, Hanks and the family said they did 
not come through Charleston or Paris; that if they had gone to 
Paris they would have taken the St. Mary and Paris-Springfield 
trace, which was direct to the Hanks near Decatur and twelve 
miles south of Charleston and it was on a much higher ridge which 
had been made by the last glacial overflow. 

This portion of Eastern Illinois knows the Lincolns and Hanks 
but do not know the Doc Cook authorities named in the alleged 
Lincoln Way report. 



66 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

APPENDIX V 
Extract from Illinois Intelligencer, February 12, 1831 

Organization of Coles County. — The new County of Coles, 
which was created at the present session of the Legislature, has 
been organized, and Ambrose Yocum, elected sheriff; George M. 
Hanson, A. Caldwell and Isaac Lewis, County Commissioners, 
and Ichabod Radley, coroner. This is expeditious business. 

APPENDIX W 

Letter of G. M. McConnel 

Fairhope, Alabama, March 6, 1913 
Chas. M. Thompson, Esq., 

Champaign, Illinois. 
My dear Sir: 

I have your letter of the 21st ult. touching what I heard my 
father say of having seen the Lincoln family on its way into 
Illinois. Sometime about 1830 or 1831 — I have no means here 
of verifying the precise time, though it may be readily learned 
from the IlHnois legislation records — m}^ father, Murray Mc- 
Connel, was a member of the lower house of the legislature from 
Morgan county. He was a resident of that county — in Jackson- 
ville— fr9m about 1827 to his death in 1869. 

About 1858, or about the time Mr. Lincoln was winning his 
first real fame, I heard my father telling some gentlemen whose 
identity I then knew but have now forgotten, of the first time he 
ever saw "Abe." As I recall it he told them of being in a town on 
the Okaw (now Kaskaskia) river. I understood the town to be 
Vandalia, then the state capital, and I got the impression that he 
was there in connection with his membership in the legislature. 
It is possible that his errand there may have been one of business 
with the state supreme court, but I was impressed that it was 
legislative, and quite certainly in my memory it was about the 
time named, 1830 or 31. 



THE LINCOLN WAY 67 

The Okaw was "out of its banks," much more on the town side 
than on the other. Coming out, with two or three others from a 
house of the town — a tavern as I understood — not far from noon, 
the attention of the party was drawn to a wagon, obviously a 
"mover's" outfit, then approaching from the east to the river 
and across the stream from the town. The bridge was quite close 
to the farther side of the swollen stream, and was not submerged 
though the water was nearly or quite up to the floor. Someone 
from the wagon was examining the narrow strip of water at the 
farther end of the bridge, evidently with a view to testing the prac- 
ticability of crossing. The onlookers knew that it would be easy to 
reach and cross the bridge, but knew also that the road from the 
hither end of the bridge across a wide, flat bottom to the town was 
an earth "thown up" from the earth at the sides. If that could 
be followed it was comparatively a good road for those days, but 
if a stranger to its course strayed into the ditches or pools at the 
side, it would be almost certain disaster. 

The man from the wagon crossed the water to the bridge, sound- 
ing it as he came with a long, wooden, handle of the ox whip he 
carried, then crossed the bridge and waded out toward the town, 
again sounding the water, from side to side, occasionally pausing 
and api^earing to be "taking his bearings," and determining the 
cotirse the thrown up roadway must follow, as well as was possible 
from seeing where the road climbed the slope to the town. They 
supposed this leader would cross on foot — "he's a tall fellow," 
said one to the other, "the-water is not up to his hips" — and that 
the others in the wagon would drive close after him. But present- 
ly, after a long and careful look ahead, the man went back to the 
bridge, stopped, beckoned to the wagon passengers to drive to 
and over the bridge, vaulted onto the back of one of the oxen of 
the team and drove boldly out along the roadway, of which he 
had explored only the beginning. 

The party of onlookers then became deeply interested and 
knowing the risk if the team missed the road, went quickly toward 
the river and began to cast about for means of assisting should 
need arise. There were two or three narrow escapes from wander- 
ing from the way, bo]dl3^ and skilfull}' met each time by the — 
as they soon could see — youthful driver, and in a short time the 



68 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

team drew out of the water and stopped to rest, the long legged 
youth calmly dropping from his ox-back seat and investigating 
the condition of the wagon and contents. He was, or seemed to be, 
some seventeen years old, bare headed and bare footed, with his 
long legs thrust through a pair of buck skin trousers which the 
water they had been in had shrivelled up till they did not reach 
his knees. 

"That," said my father, "was my first sight of Abe Lincoln. 
I liked his cool nerve and his cheery laugh as he looked at his 
shrunken trousers and cheerily told us who the family were, and 
where they were going. He is the same kind of fellow yet." 

I was too young then, and too eager in my own opening life to 
appreciate what such recollections might be worth, and after the 
war was over I was still too eager in my own pursuits, and it was 
too short a time after the war, when my father followed Mr. 
Lincoln into "the silent land" for me to even begin to "measure 
the perspective" and the real altitude of many of the men whom I, 
as a boy and youth, had known. 

I am sorry I did not ask endless questions and learn a thousand 
details, but I did not, and I can only impart these dim outlines. 
I cannot guess if what I have told you will be of any value to you 
or not, but valuable or worthless they are truthful as far as they 
go and I give them to you more than gladly. 

Faithfully yours, 

H. M. McCONNEL 

APPENDIX X 

Letter of Commissioner of General Land Office 

Department of the Interior 
General Land Office 

Washington, January 21, 1913 
Mr. Chas. M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
Sir: 

Upon receipt of your letter of January 11, 1913, a search was 
begun to obtain any facts required to meet your questions as to the 



THE LINCOLN WAY 69 

location of the Cumberland road in Illinois, and I regret to say 
that no data of value have thus far been obtained. 

This national road was authorized by act of Congress of March 
29, 1806 (Statute laws, 2 : 357), to be built westward from Cumber- 
land, Maryland. This place was important as the inland terminus 
of the commercial transportation project of water navigation upon 
the Potomac river, which was conceived by George Washington 
before the Revolution, and actively promoted, completed and 
carried on until 1825 under the plans which he, as a civil engineer, 
made and supported during his life after the war. 

A subsequent act of July 2, 1836, provided means for extending 
the road through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, because the act of 
May 15, 1820, had empowered the president to appoint com- 
missioners to lay out said road from Wheeling, Virginia, to the 
left bank of the Mississippi river (Statute laws, 3 : 604) ; and from 
this it is believed that all papers of such appointments, and the re- 
turns or reports of the survey under them, must have been made 
to the United States treasury department, which was intrusted 
with the appropriations and the disbursements of expense. This 
belief is supported by the fact that no such returns of survey are 
known to be in this office. 

While the date of laying out the road westward from Terre Haute 
is not of record here, it must be subsequent to 1820; and your 
desire to have its position made known through the return of rec- 
tangular township surveys, cannot be gratified, because all that 
area was surveyed between 1816 and 1822, when the Cumberland 
road had not reached Illinois. 

Neither is there any information to be derived from those early 
surveys on the position of Indian trails. A careful inspection of 
the plats of survey (originals of which are on file and open to ex- 
amination in the office of auditor of state, Springfield, Illinois) 
has shown that the surveyors noted only their intersection of 
brooks and creeks, and made no note of trails or roads. 

This office would be glad to assist in the worthy plan of making 
known the exact location of the road which was so important eighty 
years ago, and by which the Lincoln family is said to have reached 
the home in the Sangamon region, but there seems to be no record 



70 LIBRARY BOARD REPORT 

here accessible. Further inquir}^ will be made when opportunity 
occurs, at the Library of Congress, and if useful facts are found, 
you will be further advised. 

Very respectfully, 

Fred Dennett 
Commissioner 

APPENDIX Y 

Extract from Chicago Democrat, September 22, 1858 

"Arriving at Charleston, a vast throng was found waiting the 
procession, and welcomed it with cheers and huzzas. From the 
Capitol House to the Court House, on the opposite side of the 
street, a banner was stretched, on which was sketched an emi- 
grant wagon, drawn by two yoke of oxen, driven by a young 
stripling, and over the caricature the words "Abe's entrance into 
Charleston thirty years ago." When it is remembered that 
thirty years ago Mr. Lincoln emigrated to this place from Ken- 
tucky, driving his father's team a la design on the banner, this had 
peculiar significance. It attracted much attention during the 
day." [Referring to the Lincoln-Douglas debate at Charleston.] 

APPENDIX Z 

Letter of W. 0. Bennett 

Charleston, Illinois, November 14, 1912 
Mr. Charles M. Thompson, 

Champaign, Illinois. 
Dear Mr. Thompson: 

I had a talk with Mrs. Chapman last evening and she said there 
was no truth whatever in the report that the Hanks family stopped 
at Grandview and located in Edgar county, while the Lincolns 
went on to Decatur. She said that the entire party went all the 
wa3^ together and all located in Macon county. 

Yours trul3^ 
W. O. Bennett 



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